Sharper But Pen
by Akatsuki Feathers
Summary: I noticed that my head was spinning again and that my mind was hazed with questions and the need for answers. It shook its head, “Oh, you poor conceited boy. You really are very stupid, aren’t you?”
1. Purple Flowers

"_Who's winning – you, or you?"  
_- Hansen (A Beautiful Mind)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Purple Flowers**

* * *

It all started when he told me his name.

I was on my bed, finishing my homework, when a little cough caught my attention. The first thing I did, just by reflex, was look at Shmee.

He frowned heavily and glanced back at me, "It wasn't me." He said, eyes shifting from myself to somewhere else in my tiny room.

The next place I assumed was the window. My crazy neighbor always used to creep through my window; I have kept it unlocked by force of habit, even after he started using the secret passageway.

I have not seen him in years. He must have been having a very good vacation…

I was surprised to see that the window was shut nicely and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Door next. Maybe Dad decided to confront me once and for all and kick me out. After all, I _was_ closing in on that age in which I can be my own legal guardian.

The door was shut.

Dread sank deep into my stomach. I looked back at Shmee with concern.

We both stood up and observed my room.

He scanned the room from atop my bed while I stepped around quietly.

There is another tiny cough and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

God, I hated having all those strange things happen to me. All I had ever wanted was a normal life with a loving family and a few good—_normal—_friends.

I spun around to where the cough originated and stared at the toy with confusion.

Shmee jumped off my bed and joined my side.

Even after nine years, I never really thought about changing the décor of my room. Because of this, it looked like it belonged to an eight-year-old rather than a seventeen-year-old. I did not even feel like getting rid of any of my old toys. Perhaps I should have gone and gotten some newer, more mature things..?

I was really quite surprised to see that my toy robot was the one who made this oddly human noise.

That was… That was just not normal.

I crouched down and stared at the beaten up toy with deep interest.

I had forgotten all about it, actually. That was surprising too, since that was the toy that had gotten me into some serious trouble back in the day. It was, in fact, the little robot toy that my insane neighbor had bashed my Dad's skull in with. I was hit so hard for that, too.

Actually, now that I think about it, that was really the only time that Dad had hit me…

I stared at the robotic toy and scratched my head with wonder, "Was that you?"

Shmee held a plushy arm in front of me with warning. "Caution Todd, this thing may be dangerous."

I shook my head, "That's silly, Shmee. It's just a toy."

He looked at me incredulously.

I sighed, "Yeah, I should be more careful. Considering my horrible luck…"

The toy coughed, moving right before my very eyes.

I stood up quickly and took a step back.

"Hey, my name's Meatloaf. How are things?"

Shmee and I mirrored expressions.

"Um, excuse me?" I asked and I knelt back down again and looked at it with close attention.

"Are you deaf or something? I asked how you are." It said, eyes flashing white light.

I could not even describe how utterly _strange_ that was. The very sad part was that I had seen things that should have been classified as even stranger than that. Never had I seen something act like the way it had that was not of an outside source.

I had that toy for as long I could remember… and it never spoke to me before…

"Ah, I'm okay…" I could feel my voice trail off with awkwardness. I could not stop imagining how completely insane I must have appeared, speaking to a toy.

Oh, wait, I always forgot that Shmee was a teddy bear.

I still felt crazier then ever, though.

"Wh-Who are you?" My voice simply quivered because of the whole outlandishness of the situation.

The robot stepped forward, little hands held on its square sides (I think that was where the hip were supposed to be…) and replied in the most interesting of voices, "I told you already. My name's Meatloaf."

That was what I thought I had heard.

I looked at Shmee for support.

He stepped in front of me and crossed his plushy arms over his chest. He had on that serious look. "What are you?" He asked with his teeth clenched.

Meatloaf walked up to him and got so close that they were almost touching. It smiled widely in a way that I would think would be impossible. After all, its mouth was just two plates of metal hooked together with two tiny screws. "I'm your sibling. Nice'ta meets you at last, bro!"

Shmee did not waver in the least. "Would you care to explain to me further how we are siblings?" He asked.

I moved to sit on my bed. I got the distinct feeling that this was going to take quite a while.

Its smile grew bigger (it reminded me of the way my neighbor used to smile) and replied with a holier-than-thou voice, "I would love to explain it to you. I'm what you would call a figment; a figment of little Todd's insane mind."

I wrinkled my nose. Little..? Who was he to call me little?

But I did not comment about this, because he was still talking.

Shmee did not look happy either.

"I'm just like you, Mister Shmee. I'm just something Todd made up." He had not stopped smiling.

"You're nothing like me!" Shmee growled, "I can tell you're here to hurt Todd! I can feel it radiating from your vile, metallic form! There's nothing inside that shell other than pure evil!" He poked an enraged "finger" against Meatloaf's metal chest.

The robot's face grew serious. It puffed out its chest and marched forward, forcing Shmee to back away. "Or're _you_ the one who's really evil?" He looked up at me swiftly.

I could not help but think about how quick and fluid its movements were, despite it being a robot…

"Todd, I'm the one here to help you fight against him!"

Shmee glared at him hotly. He glanced at me quickly, "You don't really believe him, do you Todd?"

I stood up.

Had Shmee just doubted me?

I did not know what to think. Everything was happening so swiftly. I did not even know what that Meatloaf thing was; let alone what its purpose with me was. But, I trusted Shmee scores more than this Meatloaf character, and I would always stick to things that I trusted.

"Of course I don't believe it, Shmee. You're my best friend. I know you wouldn't hurt me."

"Todd!" Meatloaf cried, pushing Shmee over. It quickly jumped on top of him and pointed at me, "I'm here to help you, Todd! Why don'tja understand that?"

I knelt down once again and stared at him, "I don't trust so easily. I've only just met you and I've known Shmee for as long as I can remember." I picked it up carefully and set it aside. I held onto Shmee tightly, already feeling secure with him in my arms. "I don't know if you have a record of lying or not."

Shmee seemed to relax in my arms, his temper simmering down.

"I'm a part of your mind, Todd," he smiled once more, "Why would I lie to something that's a part of me? Or, why would you create something that would lie to you?"

I hesitated and blood rushed to my ears.

That was very much true.

My bear pawed at my arm, catching my full attention. He looked up at me with a heavy frown and narrowed eyes, "Todd," he said in a dragged out, warning voice.

I shook my head at the robot, "I'm sorry, um, Meatloaf, but I have no confidence in your words… No matter how much they make sense."

"Todd!" Shmee gasped, pawing at my arm again.

I ignored him, eyes still keen on the toy, "But, I do suppose if you give me some time to get to know you better and think it over, I might have a little more confidence in you."

I could feel Shmee squirm and I knew he was looking at me with hurt. I should not have said that. It sounded like I had doubted him, I was sure.

I would never doubt Shmee; even if he did try to convince me to burn down the house on occasion…

When I looked back at Meatloaf—what a strange name for a robot—it was smiling at me in an accepting way. "I get ya, Todd. That's cool with me."

Shmee still did not look pleased.

I stepped back over to my bed and set him down in between my pillows. I settled down next to him and pulled my homework back onto my lap. I had so much of my portfolio to finish…

* * *

"I don't like him,"

I looked at him with a face full of perplexity, "Do you mean Meatloaf?"

Shmee nodded, "Can't you feel the bad that is emanating from him?"

And, admittedly, I did. I could feel _something_ coming from the little robot; something that made me feel very uneasy.

My stomach had squirmed from just thinking about it.

"You should get rid of him,"

But, then again, maybe I should have been more concerned about the fact that there was another toy talking to me, rather than it being a mean entity.

I was not sure, though.

Strange things have always happened to me, it was a part of my daily life.

It was all so very confusing at that point.

"You should just throw it away and so be it." He advised.

I sat down on the park bench and placed the piece of Shmee back into my pocket.

"Doesn't that seem rather cold, though? I've barely gotten to know him."

"You already know him. He is a part of you, supposedly. The first impression you got from him is most likely the way he really is!"

"Then wouldn't it be impossible to get rid of him if he's really a part of me?" I slid my notebook out of my backpack and crossed my legs. I flipped it open and slid my pencil out of the spiral wire.

"Good point… Anyway, you shouldn't trust what he says. They're lies!"

"Yeah," I told him, pencil flying across the page as I wrote, "I understand."

"Good,"

I became absorbed in my writing by that point and I barely heard what he had said. I carried myself out of the conscious realm and into places of my own creation. I loved the worlds I created; they were what my perfect world would be like.

I would sometimes long to be on a different planet. Earth had done nothing good for me, it had seemed…

"What are you writing?" Shmee asked.

I stopped mid-word and replied in a soft tone, "I'm writing about my ideal planet." I told him before I switched back to my story.

It was not anything special. Simply a piece of venting works, actually. I would never even dream for it to be anything more than that. It would not be worth it.

"Tell me again; what is your perfect world like?"

It was kind of him to ask. It helped me quite a lot if I could tell people about my ideas. That was very hard though, since my only friend was Pepito…

He was never much of fan of my pieces... or reading in general, now that I thought about it. He was much more of a talker than a reader.

"A perfect world would be one with a leader who would be of great wisdom. It wouldn't matter how charismatic they may be; since their experience would be shown no matter what they do.

"Children would be taught that they must respect their elders. If they don't follow along, they would be punished harshly."

I could hear Shmee giggle a little to himself.

"But, of course, they would be given a good amount of respect as well, since they are the future.

"Everyone would be required to finish high school in order to get a job and the minimum wage would be fifteen dollars an hour. This may in fact cause some problems with businesses, but after a deal of time, the workers would be happy enough—motivated enough, to help the business bloom.

"With this leap in wages, taxes would increase as well. But, this would be because there would be universal healthcare…" I drifted off, wondering why universal healthcare would be needed if salary would be high enough to pay the costs… I would have to work that out, later, I suppose.

"Most importantly, everyone would be treated equally. Of course, those who worked hard enough in the ranks would be treated differently, that's only natural, but there would be no discrimination against people just because of their differences. There wouldn't be any prejudice for anyone, no matter what skin color, religion, sexual orientation, or point-of-view. The people who are guilty to doing this will be punished harshly."

That would be my perfect world. Crime would obviously still happen, because that was how we as humans work, but the lives of those worthy would be wonderful. The people who worked hard would not be held back just because of qualities they could not change or for being who they really were.

"I like your world, Todd." Shmee told me.

I smiled, "Thank you," I paused, the words still hanging on my tongue, "I'm glad you like it."

"Of course,"

I folded my notebook closed and put the pencil back into the spiraled spine. I tucked it away and stood up. I slung my bag onto my back.

"Do you mind if I go to get a Brain Freezy?"

Shmee seemed to hesitate before answering in a low tone, "Go ahead."

On the walk to my local 24/7, I could not help but have wondered what Shmee was thinking.

I had the distinct feeling that he could read my thoughts and simply asked me questions to be polite. I wondered why I could not do the same thing.

I pushed my hands into my pockets and stroked the piece of stuffing with my thumb and forefinger. "Shmee, is there something concerning you?" I had asked, watching with no interest at the sparse people walking around me.

The population grew as I ventured further into town.

"Actually, there is."

I turned the corner and avoided the homeless man who had turned to me and held out a can, talking about something that did not make much sense.

"What?"

"Are you okay?" He asked, "You've been going out more and more than usual. It's a little strange to see. I thought you enjoyed staying inside."

I sighed heavily, readying myself. I could see the 24/7 down the street.

"I don't know much, to be honest, Shmee. But I've been feeling very uncomfortable in my house lately. And this thing with Meatloaf is making me really concerned." I could feel my voice lower by instinct, "This situation is making my feel even crazier than I do now."

I closed in on the convenient store and entered with swift grace.

Walking into stores like these has always been a joy of mine; ever since I was little. The feeling of opening that door and having the air conditioning rush against my skin was just a wonderful sensation; it was like I was being submerged in water and I could breathe easily.

It was one of the little pleasures of mine.

"Todd, you're not crazy." Shmee said to me as we stepped to the back of the store and to the machine.

"I would like to believe that, but Shmee, I'm talking to the stuffing of a teddy bear. That's not normal." I told him, pulling a large cup from the stack and looked between the three available flavors.

Ah, yes, those three infamous flavors. Very unique ones, they are, actually. The Cherry Doom used to be the only one I would get, but I had never tried the other two when I was in that phase. Now that I know what the other two tastes are like, I do have to say that I really like the Icy Ham flavor. It was almost addictive.

So, naturally, I had gotten the Icy Ham.

"That is true." He sighed heavily, sounding tired and frustrated.

I paid for my drink quickly and exited the store. The sweet feeling of artificial cold disappeared and the humidity of the evening clung to me. It was not the most pleasurable of sensations.

"So, Todd, how do you suppose you get rid of this creature?"

"Meatloaf?"

"Yes,"

I sighed, already growing sick of this. I wondered why Shmee would not drop the subject; he should have at least let a day or two pass before picking it up again.

I placed my hand back into my pocket and continued down the street. I avoided the homeless man (who was still crying out about something about the world ending; the usual homeless gibberish) and stuck close to the buildings in order to avoid the pre-dinner sidewalk rush.

"I'm going to tell you just what I had told you before. And, when you ask me again later tonight—yes, I know you will—I'm going to tell you once again what I'm going to tell you now. Shmee, I have no idea what to do right now. I'm frustrated and confused and stressed and I really don't want to deal with this. Okay? Graduation is coming quickly, and you know that Dad is going to kick me out as soon as possible. I need to start finding some apartments, and quickly. I really don't want to, but I have to, you know? As well, I still need to get a real job! Delivering newspapers to the people on my street isn't going to pay for an apartment, let alone hold me off until I'm finished with my book. And hell!"

I was really frustrated now. Too much of my problems were being surfaced too quickly. I really, really did not want to put up with this! I wished I was still a kid, so that I could go to school and all I would have to worry about was if I was fitting in or not and if I was doing my homework right.

I dragged in a deep breath, "And I still have no idea what to even write about to begin with! I have one of the worst cases of writer's block I have ever had in my entire life. Everything I write just looks like crap to me. Excuse my language, please, but this is really how I feel!"

I was never one to swear. I found it worthless and only looked bad on my part; but at that moment I was much too stressed to hold my tongue.

"I see,"

I turned another corner and made it to my street. I could see my house down ahead.

"As well, Todd," Shmee started to say. He stopped though, which made me waver in step and stop completely.

I looked down at my pocket and waited. When he did not continue, I spoke up. "What?"

He coughed a little.

I was sure he was regretting something.

"Do you remember how your insane neighbor used to ask if you wanted to go get a Brain Freezy with him?"

He nodded a little, "Yes… Why?"

"You wanting to get a Brain Freezy made me remember it."

I looked at the large cup in hand and then back at my pocket. "You can't possibly be thinking that I'm acting like him… are you?"

He did not reply.

I gapped, "Shmee! I'm not acting anything like him!"

"Yes, I know that it was a stretch, but I worry about you quite a lot Todd. You, like every person, change so quickly, it's startling sometimes. One minute you may be okay and the next you're spiraling down into a depression that was created by a simple slur of words that have crushed your self-esteem! And this depression may send you over whatever line you have drawn for yourself and all of a sudden you're just like your neighbor!" He heaved a long breath and continued on before I could interject, "And before you or I know it, you're off on rampages through the town, slicing people apart simply because they coughed in your direction!"

I waited and wondered if he was finished or not.

He did not say anything else.

I exhaled heavily and started walking again. I took a long drag from my drink, savored the hammy-ness of it, and patted Shmee gently.

"You worry too much," I told him as I licked my lips, "I know my mind pretty well. Something silly like being made fun of isn't going to 'push me over the edge', Shmee... I've been made fun of before and I've never reacted badly!" I could not help but shake my head at the whole situation.

It was all so very silly, in fact.

"I know, I know," he said.

I stood at the door and opened it cautiously. I did not want to wake up my mother or grab the attention of my father, after all.

I stepped up the stairs silently and entered my room without a word. I placed my drink on my nightstand and pulled Shmee out of my pocket.

"Where _were_ you?" Meatloaf asked from his spot on the floor. His eyes flashed light and he stepped forward with surprising liquidity. He scaled up onto my bed and placed his 'hands' onto his 'hips'.

"I went to the park," I sat down and pushed the stuffing back into Shmee's body. I pulled the thread out of my nightstand drawer and quickly went to work sewing him up, "And then I went to the 24/7."

"Why did you bring _him_ and not _me?_" He asked with hurt in his square, lighted eyes.

I looked at him guiltily. "I'm sorry; I'm just so used to taking Shmee. I hadn't even considered if you wanted to go as well."

"Yeah, well, I got really lonely without you Todd." He frowned, sniveling.

I stared at him and sipped my drink carefully. "But, I just met you. Are you really that attached to me already?"

In the back of my mind, I thought about how delicious my Brain Freezy was.

"I'm a part of you, Todd. Course I'm attached!" He was still frowning but he seemed a little happier.

"Yeah, I know." I said as I patted him on the head, "I'm very sorry. I'll bring you the next time, okay?"

He brightened immediately, "Yay!" He cried with excitement.

Shmee scoffed from his little area near my pillows.

I looked at both of them with exasperation. I finished my drink and threw the cup away. With a heavy sigh, I threw myself back and rested next to Shmee.


	2. Dog Carcass

**

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**

Chapter 2: Dog Carcass

**

* * *

**  
"Where're you going?"

I jumped with surprise and turned to Meatloaf.

He was so needy. He was starting to annoy me…

"I'm going to school." I told him as I picked up my bag and placed it on my back. I looked from Shmee to Meatloaf and rubbed the side of my neck with unease.

"Are you going to take me?" He asked, looking up at me with large, glowing eyes. He looked so innocent and sad.

At that point, I had started to wonder what my initial discomfort with him was all about. He did not seem like a threat at all. He seemed like he was more of a nuisance than anything else.

"I'm sorry but I can't. Who knows what would happen to you if one of the popular people decided to raid my backpack and they found you. You would be destroyed." I told him truthfully.

He looked at Shmee sourly, "Are you goin' to bring _him?_"

I looked at them both. Admittedly, I was going to bring Shmee with me, just incase Pepito decided to do something crazy or the zombie children tried to attack me again. Then he could absorb my bad experiences and help me. But I could not very well do that now, since Meatloaf was there and watching.

I frowned, "No, I'm not bringing Shmee with me. He would be in danger as well."

He jumped to his feet and marched over towards me in a huff. "Todd!" He whispered harshly, "You need to bring me! What will happen to you if something bad happens and I'm not there to help?"

I smiled weakly, "Don't worry Shmee, I'm seventeen now. I can take care of myself pretty decently. Thank you for offering though." I patted him on the head and stepped to the door. I would be late if I did not go soon.

Shmee clenched his little paw hands but said nothing.

"Bye Todd!" Meatloaf screamed to me as I left.

I bite my lip and placed my hand onto my forehead.

He was just so clingy.

I snuck out of my house (I would not want to hassle my parents) and quick walked down the street. I checked a clock in a shop window for the time and wished that I had chosen afternoon classes.

By the rate I walked and the time that it was, I would have to skip breakfast.

That certainly would not help me, but I would just have to deal.

I rounded the corner and tried my hardest to ignore the hobo.

I glanced at a shop clock once again and I could feel my thoughts linger back to breakfast. Breakfast would be very helpful if I had to fight off mindless seniors or if any other misfortunes were to cross my way.

"Maybe," I told myself, whilst thoughts of how this should not have been happening ran through the back of my mind, "I have enough time."

Yeah, I did.

Even if I did not, seniors are always given a good deal of slack. I would be okay!

With that decided, I hurried to a jog towards the 24/7.

I entered the store, that heavenly sensation of the AC flowing against my face; overwhelming me, and I stepped to the back of the convenience store. I pulled a soda out from one of the coolers and grabbed a couple of Moo Sticks on my way to the front counter.

"Hey kid, why do'yo come here so of'en?" The man at the counter asked, not even being courteous enough to look up from his porno.

I placed my items in front of him and grabbed the hem of my shirt with frustration. "That's a little personal, don't you think?" I asked.

He scanned the food lazily and still did not bother to look at me. "No,"

I pulled out the amount and I paid him in exact change so that he did not have to do anything. The last thing I wanted was for him to become irritated with me. As well, because I wanted to keep him as eased as possible, I told him why I generally go there so often.

"My parents aren't very caring. They've decided that now that I'm a senior, I should take care of myself." I smiled weakly, "I'm a very bad cook."

"Whatever, dipshit. I didn't ask for your life story."

I frowned heavily. How had I not seen that coming? I did not say anything though. So, I thanked him—

"Whatever, fag. Just leave."

-- I grabbed my things and I left.

I ran to school, the time racing against my heels.

* * *

I… was ten minutes late.

When I had entered the school, already well aware that time had beaten me in the footrace; I had expected it to be blown off easily.

Apparently my luck had a huge grudge on me that day. Like always.

Before I knew it, I was being shouted at and belittled right in front of the class.

"Oh, so Mr. Casil, do you believe that you are _so_ much better than the rest of the class that you think it is okay to come in late _with_ food?"

That voice, I thought as she drove off into another rant, sounded like a throng of harpies screaming while they clawed at blackboards. At that moment, the very minute her voice rushed into my ears, I could feel something rupture. I would not have been surprised if I had suddenly started gushing blood out of my ears. Even bursting into flames would not have been much of a surprise to me at that time.

But I had been at the receiving end of plenty of rants in my younger days and I, by that point in my life, I had mastered my skill of drowning out rants.

I watched her lips and her mangled teeth and once she stopped her shouting, I tuned back in and barely just caught her telling me to go to my seat.

I stepped down the aisles of desks and smiled weakly at Pepito.

He grinned wildly, eyes sparkling.

I took my seat next to him and placed my jerky stick in the pencil trap and my drink on the floor. I slung off my bag and quickly pulled out my schoolwork.

A note dropped onto my desk.

I glanced over at Pepito from the corner of my eye and grabbed it quickly.

I unfolded it slowly under my desk and was relived to see that it was only folded twice.

'Hey Squee, why are you late? You're never late. Did your parents do something? I swear if they hurt you, I'll kill them for you!'

I nearly choked on my own spit. I placed the note onto my desk, reached for a pencil from my bag, and wrote my response as quickly as I could.

'No, don't do that to my mom and dad! You know I really don't like it when you talk about murdering my parents, Pepito.'

I paused and wondered if I should tell Pepito about Meatloaf. In the end, I opted against it.

He was a very passionate person to begin with (I think it's because of his heritage) and I knew he would not handle it gracefully.

'I was late because I headed off to get breakfast. Do you want a jerky stick?'

I stared at the teacher, waiting until she turned around or looked somewhere else.

She looked down at the book she was reading out loud and I took the chance to hand Pepito the note.

I held up a jerky stick and waited until he was finished reading.

He looked up at me and nodded.

I looked at the teacher and quickly handed Pepito his smoked beef.

He took it, nodded his head in thanks, and started to write back to me.

I quietly ignored whatever the teacher was 'teaching' today and gently nibbled on my own jerky.

The note tumbled onto my desk and I quickly opened it.

'Yeah, I know. Sorry, Squee. But don't you get breakfast everyday? You're not telling me some. I can tell really easily, you know?'

'Yes, I do know that you have a skill that is just below mind reading. And yes, I do get breakfast every day. Pepito, you _have_ to promise me that you're not going to overreact when I tell you why I was late. Okay?'

I handed it back to him. I could not bring myself to look at him, but, I could not bring myself to not see how he reacted either.

I looked at him from the corner of my eye, hunching my shoulders in an unconscious attempt to shell myself in and away from the situation.

He stared at me.

I shook my head and looked away as quick as I could.

My heart hammered in his stomach as I waited for his response. Because of my anxiety, it only took longer for him to finish it.

'It depends on what it is. Does this involve your parents, Squee? Or that crazy neighbor you told me about when we were kids?'

I stared at it.

'You remember me telling you about my neighbor even after eight or nine years? Wow. You have an incredible memory. And no, I'm not straying away from the topic.

'It shouldn't matter what it is, Pepito. You need to promise me that you won't freak. Please?'

I folded it back up and threw it back at him. The sound it made from clattering on his desk made me cringe a little.

At least the teacher did not notice.

I could feel his eyes on me, hot with frustration and unhappiness.

I closed my eyes tightly and I hoped with all my might that he would still say that he would overreact. At least then I would have an excuse to not tell him about my new little friend.

I wished Shmee was with me at that moment.

The note landed in front of me and I was almost too afraid to look at it.

My hands trembled as I opened the note and saw the answer at the very bottom. My heart sank deep into my stomach.

'Alright, I promise I won't overreact.'

I flipped the scrap of paper over and stared down at the blank side. I could not have very much written nothing now that I had made Pepito promise.

'For some reason,' I paused and I felt like I was making an utter mistake, 'one of my old toys is talking to me. Like Shmee.'

I slowly folded it back up and flicked it back over to him. I grabbed my jerky with a quick snatch and I gnawed on it with worry.

I really should not have done that, I found myself think as I ate.

The note landed in front of me and I jumped a little with surprise.

I opened it with my breath held.

'WHAT?'

I placed my head down on the desk and looked over at Pepito with hesitation.

He looked extremely concerned.

My stomach sank and I snapped my head down towards the note once again.

'WHAT?' I reread.

With a hand that was shaking, I responded; 'The toy robot that I've had since I was eight has started to speak to me. His name is Meatloaf.'

I stopped as I took in the whole insanity of the situation. After a decent five minutes of pure, deep deliberation, I decided that all that was written down was enough information for Pepito.

I creased the paper back up and tossed it back to Pepito, my eyes glued on our monotone reading teacher.

As I waited, I finished off my jerky rod.

The note hit me on the head and I jumped with surprise, almost falling out of my chair.

I quickly regained myself and scrambled for the note. I did this as quietly as I could, not wanting to draw attention away from the lesson or towards the teacher.

The last thing I wanted was for her to read my note in front of the class and then have me shipped off to the counselor's office.

I desperately did not want to go back to the D.H.M.I. I had just barely escaped a lobotomy the last time I was there, and who knows what they would do if I was instigated a second time!

I ducked down close to my desk, eyes keen on the teacher.

Thank whatever God that may be up in the sky that my little stunt had not grabbed her attention.

I pulled the note open and read; 'Meatloaf? That's a strange name for a robot. Todd, if I didn't know you so well, I would have thought this was a joke. This is real isn't it? This toy really does talk, doesn't it?'

My frown was heavy by this point and I looked over toward him with sorrow. I nodded to him solemnly.

He was serious now. He never called me Todd unless he was absolutely serious.

He scowled lightly and motioned for me to hand back the slip of paper.

I complied.

He started to write again; slowly at first before urgently picking up speed. He handed it back over.

'I'm coming over to see this Meatloaf thing later today.'

I glanced back at him before I nodded slowly. "Alright," I mouthed to him.

He nodded, eyes shifting to the front of the room, and whispered to me that I should hide the note and look at the front of the room.

I quickly pocketed the note and looked back up at the teacher.

She looked up from her book and scanned the room with eagle eyes. Seeing that everyone was paying attention, she lowered her nose to the book again and continued on with the reading.

She was reading aloud some story about a little boy who was killed by his mother.

I sighed and lowered my eyelids.

* * *

"So this robot's name is Meatloaf?" Pepito asked, tapping a toe against the still toy.

I rubbed an earlobe and made a small 'mmhmm' sound. I was not sure if I was supposed to be glad or bothered that Meatloaf had decided to stop speaking now that Pepito was in our company.

He knelt down and picked it up, weighing it carefully with his hand. "How does he act?" He shifted the toy to his other hand, eyes uplifted with thought.

I lowered my hand and placed them in my pockets. "He has this weird accent. It's really nasally and he talks with a lot of contractions. It's weird. And he's really needy—"

I saw Meatloaf's eyes flash on. I hoped Pepito had just flipped his switch.

"—and he acts really childish. Well, I'm not really sure, though. He acted really serious and mature at one moment when we were talking. I can't say for sure if what I'm telling you is actually how he acts; so I'm sorry. I've only known him for a day…"

I felt like I was telling him useless information. I probably was.

"Well, I can tell you for sure that I sense nothing from this toy." He looked at me with…

I knew that look. Oh, god, he thought I was out of my mind.

Why had Meatloaf decided to take a vow of silence now?

I was aggravated.

"Well, that's good," I replied, "Now all I have to worry about is my sanity."

What a lame joke.

I wished at that moment I had just left my mouth shut.

He smiled weakly, "Yup. Just like everyone else." He placed Meatloaf on my bed and started for the door. He hesitated at the frame.

I stepped up next to him and waited for a response.

"Are you coming over for dinner tonight, amigo?"

I smiled, "I should. I haven't been eating very health conscious food lately. And anyway, your mom's cooking is great."

He gave me a true smile, "Good," he gave me a pat on the shoulder and trekked to the stairs.

The grin weakened.

"Adios!" He called.

"Good-bye," I responded.

"Shut up, son!" I heard my father yell from his office.

Pepito slammed the door shut.

"So, that's the Anti-Christ,"

I turned back into my room with a quiet sigh. I stepped over to my bed and sat down next to Meatloaf.

Shmee stood up and stepped up next to me, eyelids lowered into threatening slits.

"Pepito," I said and felt incredibly mysterious.

"What?" Meatloaf asked, looking at me with innocent eyes.

My heart rammed into my throat, "His name is Pepito,"

"Oh!" He smiled.

I fell onto my back and felt my eyes droop with tiredness.

"Hey, hey—!"

"Leave him alone," I heard Shmee whisper fiercely.

There was a clatter and I opened my eyes quickly. I sat up and looked down at the floor.

Meatloaf flailed his arms and legs, stuck on his back.

I leaned over and helped him back onto his feet.

He glared at Shmee before he looked at me with appreciation, "Thanks!"

"You're welcome," I told him as I went to lie back down.

Shmee stepped over to me and sat down on my stomach.

I think he was jealous, but I never have known these sorts of things for sure. But he had always been a comfort of mine and that was what I needed at that instant.

I patted him on the head and relaxed further.

A nap would have been nice.

I felt my body become slack, even in the strange position I was in, and sleep was just around the corner.

Something tapped against my foot.

I mumbled and gently pushed it away.

There came more tapping.

I grumbled.

More came.

I opened my eyes, pulled Shmee off and placed him to the side, and sat up. I looked down at my feet.

Meatloaf smiled brightly at me.

"Yes?" I questioned.

"Can I come with you to what's-his-name's house for dinner?" He asked, eyes beaming in literal and figurative senses.

I paused and searched for a look Shmee may have been giving me. I responded unsurely, "Um, sure, why not?"

Now Shmee was giving me a look. It sank deep into my skin, sending a tremor through my body.

"Yay!" Meatloaf cried.

I crawled fully onto my bed and leaned back down. I hoped I would be able to get some sleep before dinner.

* * *

"Time to wake up Todd," Shmee yelled at me.

I snapped out of my terror and found that I was covered with sweat. My heart raced and my fingers shook not-so subtly.

"What time is it?" I asked, still recovering from my stupor.

"It's five-thirty. You need to be at Pepito's in a half-an-hour." Shmee told me.

"Oh. Thank you," I rubbed my eyes and yawned heavily. I stood up and pulled my shirt off. I tossed it into the hamper and went to put on a clean one. I pulled it on and tried to clear my eyes of the sleep that still lingered.

I could feel both Shmee and Meatloaf stare at me.

I stepped over to the bed and picked up my bear up. I gently loosened a stitch and pulled a small amount of cotton out of him. I gently stuffed it into my pocket.

"Hey!" Meatloaf screeched, "You didn't say you'd bring _him_!"

"Of course I would bring Shmee. I can't neglect him now that you're around." I told him.

It was the half-truth, I suppose. I mostly wanted to bring Shmee in order to help with extreme discomfort I still had when it came to Senor Diablo. And, because Meatloaf still made me feel very uncomfortable.

Shmee cackled from my pocket.

Meatloaf frowned heavily, "That's not fair."

I looked at him apathetically, "It is." I stepped over to him and picked him up.

"Let's go before we're late." I told them and snuck out of my house.

The walk to their home was long and somewhat annoying.

This was mostly due to the fact that Meatloaf would not stop complaining about Shmee.

Sometimes I really wondered what his problem was. I was then reminded that this was all me that was doing this, so it would be more important to have wondered what was wrong with _me_ and not him.

It only made sense, after all.

I was just glad that Shmee had decided to go easy on me that day and did not start arguing with Meatloaf like they had did the night before.

"I still think it's really, really unfair that he's coming as well." Meatloaf moaned from within my clutch, "You left me all alone when you went to getta Brain Freezy with that _thing_! This shoulda been the trip that made up for that!"

I stepped up to Pepito's house and gripped the knocker tightly. I knocked several times before I looked back down at my robot with a flat look. "I'll make up for that later, okay? I'll bring you with me someday after school this week and we'll go get a Brain Freezy or Pig Stick. Okay?"

His eyes flashed with what I started to imagine was happiness. "Yay!" He cried.

The door opened and a very happy Mrs. Diablo stood at the door.

"Hello, Todd! Come in, come in, you came at a perfect time! We were just about to sit!" Her smile gleamed.

I stepped inside, smiling as well, and allowed the slightly hotter temperature to swell around me.

Their house did get some of the heat from Hell below.

"Thank you for having me over," I told her, stepping further into their living room.

Pepito have a lopsided wave from their couch and called out a 'hey' to me.

"Not a problem, sweetie!" Mrs. Diablo called before she hurried over towards the dining room.

I took a seat on the armrest of the couch and looked down at Pepito with a gentle smile.

He grinned back. His eyes locked onto Meatloaf and he sat up suddenly. "Why'd you bring that thing?" He asked me.

I placed Meatloaf down onto the seat and hoped that he would just talk for one moment in front of Pepito.

He kept quiet.

I sighed, seeming to sag, and replied in a wavering tone, "He told me that he wanted to come.

"Is Shmee with you?"

I nodded.

"Oh, well, okay." He smiled once again.

"Dinner, you two!" Pepito's mother cried from the dining room.

We both stood up at once.

Pepito strutted into the dining room, glancing back once that he had noticed that I was not following.

I picked up Meatloaf and hid him behind my leg as I walked into the little room. I took a quick seat next to Pepito's chair and placed Meatloaf next to my feet.

"Ah, it's nice to see you again Todd." Senor Diablo greeted from his spot at the head of the table.

"Hello Mr. Diablo," I greeted back, sweat already gathered on the small of my back. My fingers trembled and I was forced to hold my hands against my lap. I could not bring myself to look at him.

"How are things? There aren't too many monsters coming after you lately, hmm?"

I really did not like small talk. It was generally very awkward.

I gulped down a mouthful of saliva and kept my eyes on my empty plate.

Pepito finally took a seat next to me and set down a large plate of what looked like turkey.

Mrs. Diablo bustled into the room and placed a bowl of mashed potatoes and macaroni salad on the table.

"No, my days have mellowed a decent amount," I replied. It was the half-truth, but I did not want to start an in-depth conversation about my luck and its inability to do anything kind to me.

"That's good to hear," he said with a sharp-toothed grin. He started to dish his dinner.

I waited, feeling the need to present as much submission as I possibly could.

Pepito tore a piece of bird and placed it on his plate. He took another piece.

Mrs. Diablo finished her prayer and gently dished some macaroni salad onto her plate. She looked at me with surprise before she urged me on to grab something to eat.

I nodded in understanding. I tried to hurry; I did not want to seem like I was stealing their food; mongering it.

That was the last thing I wanted to do.

The table was comfortably quiet as everyone ate. I was relieved that no one was trying to force conversation with me.

There was a small tug against my pant leg and I almost choked on my turkey. I discreetly glanced down at the floor and stared at Meatloaf long and hard.

He smiled and me and continued to tug away.

I chewed my lip and looked back to my plate before any attention was caught. I started to eat once more.

He continued to tug my pants, whining almost mutely to me.

I could hear Shmee expel a quiet growl from my pocket.

And at that moment, I wondered, truly, how crazed I was. I wondered if anyone at the table could hear my… my creations… like I did. Could they feel their presence? Could they hear them?

Could they _hear_ them?

But no one at the table seemed to have heard anything other then our chewing.

I sighed so very quietly to myself and finished the remainder of my macaroni salad. It was tangy, just the way I liked it.

"_Todd!_"

I jumped with surprise and fell backwards, landing on the floor with a loud crash.

The three people at the table stood up and looked down at me with worry.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Mrs. Diablo asked, beating Pepito to the cut.

I gripped the floor, eyes wide, and I could feel sweat build up behind my fingers. My heart fluttered at a high rate and I looked over at Meatloaf.

He smiled and waved, "Todd, set me on the table. I want to be a part of the thing!"

I quickly scrambled to my feet and picked the chair up. I sat down, breathing heavily, and nodded to her with as much composure as I could muster. "I-I'm fine," my voice huffed out, "I was startled, that's all."

"Todd," Meatloaf whined. He looked up at me with wide eyes.

I chewed a worry sore on my inner lip before I squeezed my eyes tightly and picked Meatloaf up. I exhaled with embarrassment as I placed him on the table. My face heated up.

Pepito stared at the toy that was set next to him with tight frown before he turned to his food again.

Senor Diablo lifted a brow at it but, like his son, returned to his meal without a word.

I was gracious enough that even normal Mrs. Diablo did not say anything.

She simply smiled again, cheeks reddening from the strain, and nodded with understanding. Perhaps it was the years living in home that housed hell or maybe the fact that her family was bent on bringing the world to an end at some point in time; I was not sure, but she must have gotten used to strange things by this point in her life.

"Yay!" Meatloaf screamed with happiness and stood next to my plate with pride.

Shmee grumbled from my pocket. The annoyance that he was feeling was strong enough for me to sense straight away.

I patted the bulge that was Shmee and tried to settle him down.

I was curious that, despite Meatloaf now moving and speaking, the others did not react as if he was actually doing these things.

I was not sure if it were because they were being polite or if it was because they actually did not see him doing it.

I was, to say the least, extremely worried about that.

Everyone seemed to finish around the same time and that relaxed quiet from before slowly became something very awkward.

And then it was time for dessert.

I have always felt bad that Mrs. Diablo seemed to be the only one who cooked the food. I really wanted to get up and go help her because, I was sure, she already had enough to do around the house as it was; being it a part of hell and all. But, admittedly, she seemed to get endless joy out of doing these housewife sorts of activities and I would not want to offend her in a way if I offered to help…

I got a distinct feeling that my thinking was flawed.

Pepito turned to me with a smile, "So Squee, what are you doing for your portfolio?" He asked.

I shrugged lightly, "It mostly focuses on my writing, since that's what I want to do for a career. I was aiming for a University of Those Not Illiterate leveled portfolio. You?"

"Eh, I'm bullshitting it. I'm going to just make everything fancy and be a lawyer or something. Something prestigious before I run for office and take over the world." He grinned sharply.

I rested my head into my palm and smiled at him weakly, "I see,"

His smile faded.

I knew why instantly. I could foresee his next question.

"So, have you changed your mind?"

I sighed, "No, I haven't Pepito."

"Oh, alright," he poked Meatloaf in order to distract himself from our topic.

I looked over at Senor Diablo, just to see how he was reacting.

He seemed as pleasant as he was before.

I smiled at him.

He smiled back.

"_Todd!_"

I snapped my head down at Shmee and looked at him interest.

"Alright Meatloaf; speak to me!" Pepito commanded in a strong voice as he held up the little robot.

I snapped my attention back towards them.

Meatloaf said nothing.

Pepito poked him on the head. "Come on robot. We all saw what you did earlier!"

Relief flooded over me and I was on the brink of bursting into tears. That certainly was a heavy load off my mind.

Meatloaf still did not speak.

The Anti-Christ poked him roughly on the chest, finger being indented slightly from the grate on the toy's chest. "I know you talked. Just say something, anything at all. You don't need to worry! I'm not going to hurt you!"

I seriously doubted that; the smile that was on Pepito's face said all to what his true intentions were.

I slumped in my chair and wished for the night to be over with.

"Speak!" Pepito yelled. He stood up, chair knocking across the floor, and shook the robot with flaming hands. Singe marks formed where Pepito's fingers were and the robot's exterior started to melt slightly,

Meatloaf screamed and squirmed wildly. "Let me go! Let me go! You said you wouldn't hurt me!"

My heart wrenched at the sight. "Stop it, Pepito!" I yelled.

He growled through clenched teeth before he dropped Meatloaf with a little too much force. "I never said I wouldn't hurt you if you didn't speak!"

I reached over for him but was forced to recoil because of the heat. I hissed gently to myself.

Meatloaf sobbed to everyone in the room, flailing his arms and legs into the air in another desperate attempt to pick himself off of his back.

I looked at the Anti-Christ woefully and then looked back down at Meatloaf.

He scoffed and picked the toy up.

He seemed extremely flustered as he looked at Pepito and then to me.

I sighed and told him to thank Pepito.

He looked offended.

"Do it, Meatloaf," I told him, firming my voice to sound assertive.

He glared off to the side before he muttered out a quick 'thanks'.

I bit my tongue and squealed highly when I noticed Mr. Diablo had joined my side.

He bent over and looked at my creation with interest.

"_Todd!_"

I stepped away from the table, my hands shook a little, and I turned my attention to my pocket with concern. "What is it Shmee?"

"Hmm? I didn't say anything."

I felt my eyes strain as I stared at the small bulge in my pocket. "What?"

"I didn't say anything to you, Todd. After all, you're not going to listen to me anyway."

"Oh, Shmee! Please don't act like that!" I cried to him.

He sighed tiredly, "I know, I'm sorry."

"I know as well. I don't mean to ignore you. But you know that Meatloaf is needy. My attention is stuck on him until I find a way to get rid of him or when I figure out a good way to make him calm."

I held my breath when I saw Mr. Diablo look at me.

"Get rid of?" He questioned, slight humor laced within each syllable, "You can't just 'get rid' of a figment. They're a manifestation of a part of your mind. Meatloaf is most likely the child that is still inside you, looking to be cared for like you never were."

"Dad, stop being so physiological with him!"

"Dessert!" Mrs. Diablo yelled as she stepped into the room. A large, steaming pie was in her padded hands.

I stared at him and then at Mrs. Diablo. My voice suddenly died out, it seemed, and I was forced to lick my lips. "W-What?" I started, looking at him with confusion, "Then how can _you_ see him?"

He chuckled at me as if he thought my question was absurd.

I tapped my teeth together slightly.

"Of course I can see them. I'm Satan!"

Well, yes, that did make sense. Being the overlord of the underworld would assure him some special little powers of his own.

I felt very stupid.

"Yeah," I nodded my head and sat down at the table again.

Pepito took his seat next to me and placed Meatloaf beside me.

Senior Diablo took his spot as well and Mrs. Diablo dished out the pie. She seemed happy enough and I was not sure if she had overheard us talking or not.

I looked down at my wedge with wonder and smiled at the little apple slices in the pie. Apple pie was my favorite.

I started to eat, looking at Mrs. Diablo with thanks.

"_Todd!_"

I gasped, looking around wildly. I stopped and leaned forward, a piece of crust jammed in my windpipe, and I gagged. I could feel my oxygen level drop quickly as the piece of pie cut off my air.

I barely remembered what to do, but I quickly lifted my hands to my throat and gestured for help.

I was choking.

Pepito stood up quickly and shouted to me, "Can you—"

"_**Breathe Todd!**_"

"—breathe Squee?"

My scalp stung and my cheek burned.

He ran to my back and wrapped his arms around my stomach. He started to give me the Heimlich maneuver.

"_Todd!_"

My body was shaking.

My vision blurred.

I could feel myself fall.

* * *

My eyes flew open and I screamed loudly.

"Todd! Breathe Todd, breathe!" Shmee yelled at me as he gripped my hair.

My eyes flew over to his little figure and I inhaled loudly. My heart hammered in my chest and my thoughts were jumbled.

He exhaled a breath of relief and looked down at me with concern. "Thank god you're okay, Todd."

I looked at him with confusion before my eyes wavered over towards my ceiling. My breathing calmed; as did my heart. I sat up slowly and felt a splitting headache form. I wrinkled my brows and rested a hand against my forehead.

"Where am I?" I asked Shmee and felt the sweat on my body dry.

I twitched as I watched Meatloaf climb onto the bed.

Shmee looked at me with concern. He stepped over in front of my and examined me quickly. "We're in your house."

I looked startled. "But I thought I was over at Pepito's…" I trailed off and bit my lip, "I was choking on a piece of apple pie."

"No, Todd, you've been asleep."

"Wh-What time is it?" I shouted.

"It's eleven-forty at night, Todd!"

I gapped, "Are you serious?" I was dumb-founded.

"Yes," Shmee became even more serious, if even possible, and then added, "Todd, are you okay?"

"Todd!" Meatloaf screamed and threw himself onto me.

I held him gently and noticed that there were no scorch marks on his sides. "I…" I froze.

Was I okay or was I not?

After all, I had apparently woken up from a dream that I had thought was real life… That was… Kind of scary! It felt so real, so lifelike.

"I'm okay." I smiled weakly at him and stroked Meatloaf on the head in order to soothe him.

He was sobbing something about my death.


	3. Cold Summer

* * *

**Chapter 3: Cold Summer**

* * *

I was unable to sleep for the rest of the night.

Of course, it did not help that Meatloaf would not stop crying and screaming nonsense…

But it was mostly because of my scare from my previous sleep. I still could not believe that I had dreamt about something that felt so real. I could have sworn I had eaten that turkey, felt the heat radiate off of Meatloaf, and experienced the sensation of choking.

It seemed almost impossible to believe that I had been sleeping the whole time.

But, at least when it was time to leave for school I was able to sneak out some of Shmee while Meatloaf was crying and quickly exit before I could hear any more whining from him.

That was the last thing I wanted; especially running on the very limited amount of energy that I had.

When I arrived at school I was absolutely exhausted and was not ready for the onslaught of questions and concerns from Pepito. I knew he would ask me why I had missed the dinner and I would just have to tell him the truth.

At least I arrived at school on time…

I crept into the classroom, sparse in children, and sank into my chair. My eyes felt heavy and I set my head onto my desk in order to rest a little before the start of class.

My eyes stayed open.

I still could not get over what I had done the day before. It was still very concerning.

I hoped with all my might that Pepito would conveniently forget about the dinner that was supposed to have happened yesterday. Or perhaps he would not come that day?

If only.

I turned my head to the window that was across the room and watched a dog chase a squirrel across the school yards.

I wondered how the dog got onto school property to begin with.

And then the room temperature rose several degrees.

I stiffened my shoulders and steeled myself for what could possibly have happened next.

His footsteps were loud and aggressive—urgent, I thought to myself—as they made their way to me.

I felt my mind haze over despite my nervousness. I really did need some sleep.

His hands landed on my shoulders and his nails dug into my skin. The heat from his body transferred into me at breakneck speed and my stomach felt like it was boiling.

"Where were you?"

I looked at him crookedly with a small smile. "I thought I had gone to your house last night..." Beating around the bush and sugarcoating it would not get me anywhere; might as well tell the whole truth.

Pepito stared down at me, eyes narrowed to dangerous levels, and questioned me with a; "What is that supposed to mean?"

I had the sudden urge to get up and get away from the Anti-Christ's grip. I tried to take a deep breath without making myself shudder, but it just did not work out that way. My nerves were still much too frazzled for me to even try to sound calm.

I could feel Pepito's hands dig further into my body.

"I fell asleep and dreamt that I went over to your house for dinner," I did not move, my eyes still stuck on Pepito's face, and added, "I choked on a piece of apple pie,"

Pepito's face seemed to calm and he chuckled a little, "Is that all?" He rolled his eyes, "You could have called me to say that you fell asleep. Instead I worried about you all night!"

My look did not change nor falter.

His, however, did. "What's wrong?" He pulled his hands away from me and rested them against my desk. He knelt down and looked at me at semi-eye-level.

"It felt so real," I stared at him right in the eye, "I _thought_ it was real."

His eyes grew sympathetic. "What's wrong with that?"

"I didn't even know that I was sleeping! I thought I was awake." I bit my tongue to settle down, "What if it happens again?" A gentle tremble went up my trunk.

Shmee murmured some comforting words to me.

Pepito shook his head at me, "Squee, you worry way too much."

My look did not change.

"Trust me, Todd. You're going to be fine."

I was startled by the use of my name. Pepito almost never called me by my real name. He always used that nickname that my neighbor had given me. In fact, I was not even sure if he knew that my nickname was given to me by the man whom he hated.

I nodded, "Alright," even I could hear the hesitation in my voice. I hoped that Pepito would drop the whole situation. The last thing I needed was another argument over my "issues".

Pepito's eyes lingered on my face before they jerked to the front of the room. He stood up and gently spun around so that he was next to his own desk. He sat down and pulled his bag onto his lap.

The bell rang.

I closed my eyes for a quick moment, the heaviness seeping through my brain, before I turned and retrieved my bag from the floor as well. I caught the sight of Pepito from the corner of my eye.

He stared at me again. "I hope you understand that I'm just worried about you. You do know that, right?"

Incredulously, I nodded to him. "Of course I understand."

H—

* * *

"Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking, stop talking, stop talking, stop talking, stop talking," he sobbed as he dropped his pencil and rocked back and forth on the floor. His hands drifted into his hair and his skeletal fingers gripped his brittle hair. He tucked his head down into his knees and started to cry.

She smiled at him from her place on the wall, "Go ahead, you little fucker. Do it, I dare you!" She laughed heavily to herself as she prowled over to one of the murals on the wall.

He did not make it.

She blended into the blacks and reds and blues but her smile was still stark and noticeable. She continued to laugh; long, low, and condescending.

A perfect pitch to make his ears ring…

The gun rested over on the rarely used dinner table.

His and her eyes drifted over to it, both "minds" having the exact same thought.

Her giggle lowered and slowly disappeared into a descending trill.

His sunken in eyes slowly drifted back to her. The tears dried stiffly on his cheeks and left dry salt trails. He wrapped his arms around himself and shook his head repeatedly. "No, no, no, no, no, no…" He murmured into his knees, "No; I won't do it. No."

"I knew it," she stalked away from the mural and across the wall and towards the one closest to him, "I knew you were a useless little shit. I _knew _it!" She brought back her laugh, starting right back from once she had ended and paced back and forth next to him.

He shot to his feet, wavering back and forth as fatigue attacked him and blood rushed to his head. He leaned against the wall, right next to her, and heaved up nothing but long strands of saliva mixed with dots of acid. His eyes spun.

She stepped up next to him as she settled her laughter and whispered to him in a stage voice, "You are worthless, boy. Go ahead, take that gun and just end your sorry excuse for a life! Do it—"

"Don't listen to her…" The voice panted heavily as it struggled through the filth of his mind. It pushed aside the other voices that screamed and clawed at his forehead and tried to catch its breath.

"She's just trying to trick you—grrgl—make you kill your—grgl huaaaaaaa—yourself. You can't do it!" The voice had started to scream now, urgent and concerning, and it clawed for the surface again as the waste swelled around it.

It heaved for breath, shuddering every now and then.

He was starting to cry now as his only decent voice started to struggle. He could feel the entity being pulled down back into the sewage that had started to overflow his subconscious again.

The voice gurgled before it was drowned into silence.

She laughed at him and his voice, "Pity he was your first. Such a stupid little thing he is. Perhaps it's his fault that you're so stupid now?" She lifted a brow at him.

He caught his balance again and turned to her. His eyes widened with anger, "Don't say that abou—" He choked on a shudder and felt tears gather in his eyes as he heard his friend gurgle within the depths of his mind.

The shackles returned to the creature's limbs, constricting him into his cell hidden deep inside the man.

"Do it, do it now!" She screamed, "What is there for you to live for? Everyone hates you and that fool won't be coming back anytime soon."

He struggled with himself, looking from her to the table to the floor.

"No wait! How can people hate you if they have no idea that you exist? You're invisible to everyone. You're just doomed to live a life of silence and loneliness in this shit-hole house. No one will know that you died and no one would mourn your death."

He took a heavy step forward. His could feel the joints in his legs crack from under use. He hissed gently to himself as his stomach acid resorted to eating his own stomach lining for sustenance.

She laughed and called further suggestions to him.

He continued his slow tread towards the kitchen, unable to move any faster without causing his body intense pain.

Perhaps… perhaps this was the best for him?

He was wasting away, after all.

He leaned against the table and his other hand lingered towards the gun. He looped his finger inside the trigger guard and pulled it up off of the wooden surface. His hand shook from the weight and the stress.

"Do it,"

He pulled away from the table and held the gun up to his mouth. He licked the cold barrel and imagined how it would be hot in any second.

"Do it,"

He pulled it out of his mouth for a moment and adjusted his hand so that he was holding it properly. He gently rested it down onto his bottom teeth and circled the band of metal with his tongue.

"Stop stalling, you idiotic monkey look-alike!" She yelled at him, pacing back at forth.

He closed his eyes and took several therapeutically breaths.

"Do it!"

He pulled the trigger.

The barrel burned his tongue.

...

Nothing happened.

His hand started to tremble and his body followed suit. He dropped the gun with a loud clatter and he backed away with a clumsy stumble. He lost his footing and crashed back down onto the floor.

There was a loud crack as something broke.

He kept still and quiet despite the pain coursing through his arm and side. His eyes were held large and tears leaked down his cheeks again.

"It was empty."

"Try again! I know there are bullets in that gun!" She hissed.

He felt his body continue to tremble and he gently rolled onto his stomach. The pain in his body slowly subsided.

He dragged himself back to his previous spot and he picked up his pencil.

* * *

e smiled and replied, "I'm glad!"

I returned his smile, albeit somewhat weaker than his. It was nice to know that Pepito cared about me, even if it still kept me a little uncomfortable…

Students filed into the classroom in an almost robotic manner and took their rightful seats.

The teacher seemed appear out of nowhere from behind her desk and she stalked down the rows. Her perfectly manicured nails dug into the long meter stick that was in her hand and she lifted it slightly in the air, ready for strike.

She came upon the desk of a particularly messy student and struck his hand sharply with the tip if the ruler.

He shot his hand to his chest and cursed.

She struck again, maneuvering to hit the same hand once again.

I shook my head slightly and made sure that all my supplies were in their suitable places.

Everything had to be in proper place. If a piece of paper was tilted, that would be a problem.

It was completely ridiculous, I thought, but it was the way she worked and I had no chance of changing that at all.

Really, all I could do was put up with her until graduation.

Thank God I only had to wait for a little over a week for it to come.

She walked into my row and observed our desks with vulture eyes. She stopped in front of me and smiled widely. Her teeth, yellowed from smoking, were mangled in her mouth much more than I previously thought they were.

"I see that we're on time today, Mister Casil." Her sharp eyes scanned my desk. Something glinted in her eye as she spotted something…

My eyes wavered before I looked down to see what could possibly be off. It took me a long time, but I noticed that I had forgotten to write my name down on my work.

I felt my stomach shiver.

Shmee shook with anger.

She struck me on the side of my head with her meter stick.

I flinched, the spot starting to sting already, and quickly said my apologies.

She did not move, her eyes still surveying me and my desk, before she nodded and stepped towards the person behind me.

I quickly grabbed a pencil and wrote my name down.

The room, I had noticed, was still getting hotter. I looked over at Pepito with concern and saw that he was angry once again.

During our teacher's usual morning ritual, he often times became very angry at her.

He had never done anything, but just the thought of an angry Anti-Christ was enough to send a ripple of fear through the class. Whether the students understood why they felt that way or not, I could not say for sure.

I gave him a pleading look to settle down. I did not particularly want to be covered in a film of sweat for the rest of the day.

His eyes were still smoldering as he looked away from me and at the blonde that was sitting in front of him.

The temperatures were still soaring.

She promptly combusted into raging blue flames and was dismissed to the nurse's office.

Pepito was still unhappy, but his temper was eased at the sight of the girl (developing third-degree burns) being sent away.

She inspected the remaining desks with minimal punishment and the class started back up with ease.

The lesson was pretty much nothing. Being it towards the end of the year, the lesson plan was mostly review from the previous years.

What proper 'grammer' was or how to not write like an eight-year-old; the usual.

And, by the end of class, I could feel my brain sagging with stupidity.

Even after all those years, the people who taught seemed to be just as incompetent as everyone else in my previous school years. I had to wonder if other schools were like my own as well.

Honestly, it all made me very sick.

The demonic boy scuttled up next to me and smiled weakly. "So, Squee, are you going to come over to my house _this_ time?"

"Of course," I smiled back at the best of my ability and wondered if it would be too much to ask if I were able to go over right after school…

I was not particularly in the mood to deal with Meatloaf again…

I decided to ask him anyway.

He shrugged as if he were easing something off of his shoulders and replied with a, "Sure, why not?"

I sighed with relief.

Pepito nudged me on the arm and motioned for us to continue walking to our next class.

* * *

We walked side-by-side down the street, afternoon sun beating on our backs, and made very small, idle chat like usual.

"I finished mine; how about you?" Pepito asked a block away from his house.

I shook my head, "No, I still need to put on the finishing touches."

He nodded.

We walked to his house in further silence, not willing to say anything anymore.

Our topics were rather limited, since neither of us enjoyed gossip and other small talk subjects did not appeal to us.

As well, nothing too exciting was happening in the world to have a discussion about…

Pepito loved to talk about world events.

I think it was mostly because his goal in life was to rule the world. After all, events in history have an impeccable way of repeating themselves and knowing how people react to certain issues would be a great knowledge for someone who decided to take a part in world issues.

Personally, I was never much of a person for worldly events. I would rather prefer to live my life as simple as possible and stay within the realms my fictional worlds. Admittedly, they were much easier to 'live' in than the real one.

I stepped into the Diablo's house, almost at Pepito's heels, and felt the heat rub against my skin.

Mrs. Diablo greeted up with a gentle wave and a smile.

"Hello," I greeted back, smiling in return.

Pepito motioned for me to follow him upstairs and I complied without a word.

* * *

"Where were you?"

My head stung and I slowly pulled myself into my room. I placed my Icy Ham Brain Freezy on my nightstand and carefully stepped over toward my bed.

He did not make a move.

I could feel Shmee grow anxious in my grip.

I pulled open one of Shmee's stitches and placed him back into his host.

The bear sprung to life immediately (small hole in his side still) and stepped over towards the edge of the bed. He hopped off and landed with a soft 'pat' on the floor. He marched over to Meatloaf and stared at him threateningly.

"He was at school and then over at a friend's house_. Why_?"

Meatloaf stepped forward and scowled at him.

The intensity that flared from the little robot startled me greatly.

It certainly was not the feeling that he normally gave off; the one of childishness and immaturity. No… this was something much more malicious… more dangerous.

I gulped and knelt down behind Shmee.

He shot his gaze up to me and I felt a shiver run up my spine. He pointed a little finger at me…

… did he have fingers before?

I could not remember.

"You are one tricky boy, Todd." He addressed in a sharp voice. He laughed a little…

Oh God, what was going on?

I felt a spiral of panic drive up my nerves and I pulled Shmee away from him and held him close to my chest. My anxiety settled only a fraction and I noticed that Shmee's absorbability seemed very low at that very instant.

I looked at the two with worry.

Meatloaf had laughed just like how a villain would. Long and condescending; it was very out-of-character.

Or was it?

How could I know for sure that Meatloaf was actually child-like? I had only met him three days ago, after all…

What if he was actually like that?

"Do you have any idea what I was put through today, all by myself?" He continued to laugh, starting to sound a little unhinged.

"I had to deal with the moaning and confusion from your mother all afternoon. As well, your father wouldn't shut up about how wonderful the house was when you weren't there; then afterwards he kept going into a tangent of how his life would have been wonderful if you were never born."

Shmee observed him with a silent and almost stunned demeanor. His arms hung loosely over my own.

"That man just _infuriates _me!" His tone wavered before it rose with anger. His fingers clenched down tightly and he let out a loud noise of frustration. He looked up at me again, eyes lit.

The tingle in the middle of my back did not disappear.

He stepped forward so that he was at my knees and continued to look up at me.

It unnerved me a little.

When he did not say anything, I managed to stammer out a, "What?"

"Kill them, Todd."

I jumped to my feet and almost fell over backwards in the progress. I stared at him, my mouth agape, and my eyes wide.

"_Kill them_," He commanded again and he marched towards me again.

Shmee was surprisingly quiet at the moment and I felt horribly deserted. Even so, I still did not put him down.

"No!" I yelled at him and stepped back even more.

He followed, hot on my toes, with a bright smile. "Why not, Todd? I want you to, Shmee wants you to…" The smile grew in length, "_You _want to."

Ice tucked under my skin and goosebumps riddled my body.

"That's not true!" I shouted, no longer afraid if my parents were to hear me or not. I would never want to kill my parents. I loved them with every inch of my heart…

…even if they did not feel the same way.

"It is true. You know it is, Todd. I can tell. The hunger to burn them to their deaths withers in the back of your heart with livid intensity."

My heart fluttered and then sagged a little. Fear ate at my stomach and at the base of my spin. I propelled backwards and hit an empty wall.

The smiles of my wallpaper sneered at me.

The room started to close in.

The sun fell.

With my pupils dilating into large disks, I squeezed Shmee tightly to my chest even more and begged him for help.

He wiggled out of my grip and landed on all fours. He stood up, looking regal, and brushed the dust off of him. He stood face-to-face with Meatloaf.

Meatloaf glared at him.

"Although I would like to see Todd become rid of his parents,"

I gasped at him and felt my unease grow in even more scores.

"I will not allow you to trash his mind, you two-faced monster!"

For a moment, I had actually thought that Shmee would attack Meatloaf. The energy that had filled the room was one of adrenaline and anxiety and rivalry.

He did not, however.

Neither did Meatloaf.

"_Two-faced monster_?" The robot screeched, "What does that make you, Mister Shmee? Are you the knight then, in this fairy tale that you're feeding that boy?" He made a spitting noise, even though I saw not saliva.

Shmee bore his teeth.

"Everything you have told Todd is a lie! You say you're keeping him innocent, but I just see you sheltering him from the truth of the world! _I'm_not the monster, Mister Shmee, _you_ are."

He shook with anger, his paws curled in. "You—!"

"Stop,"

"Little—!"

"Please, stop,"

"_Abomination!_"

"Stop!" I yelled as loud as I could muster.

Both heads shot up to me.

My face burned red, "Please stop fighting."

There were loud footsteps from the stairs.

They both looked at me.

And suddenly, the room changed. Every bad aura in there drained instantaneously and my tiny room was filled with warmth and… nutrality…

Meatloaf smiled brightly and looked from Shmee to myself. "Good luck!" He shouted before he went still and lifeless.

The doorknob jiggled.

Shmee collapsed onto the ground, lifeless as well.

The door flew open and my father stepped in. He did not look all too pleased.

"Who are you yelling at, Squee?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

He called me Squee… he never called me by my true name… I wished he would, just once…

I lowered my head; my eyebrows tucked close to my eyes and looked at Shmee. "I'm talking to no one, Dad."

"Then what was that racket I heard?" The lenses of his glasses flared in the dull light; like always.

I moved my eyes to my shoes, "I wasn't making any noise." My fingers intertwined only by habit.

"Are you calling me a liar?" He ground out. He stepped forward, scaling in height as he grew closer to me.

I did not say anything.

He gripped my wrist and wrenched me towards the door. "What's your answer, son?"

I knew… I knew my answer would be the one that decided my fate.

"I didn't say anything." I told him, as I averted my gaze further.

I would rather spend a night or two out of the house rather than be sent back to the institution for the rest of my life.

He tugged me down the stairs and into the television room. He was scowling when I looked up at him. He threw open the door and pushed me out.

I stumbled and fell on my hands and knees, peeling the skin slightly.

"That's it, boy! You're old enough to live off of your own money. You no longer need me..." He whispered something under his breath that I could not catch, "Get out."

I slowly got to my feet and turned to him. I was not sure what sort of face I had presented to him, but it certainly was not one that was threatening.

"Finally I can start my life over again without _you_ getting in my way," was the last thing I heard before the door slammed shut.

And all I could do was stand, mouth slightly agape, and stare at the light coming from the living room window. The cool wind chilled my legs as I continued to stand and my muscles were freezing solid.

My eyes shifted up to my window where my friend and my Brain Freezy still sat.

I felt the sudden presence of loneliness fall upon me.

I missed Shmee…


	4. Welcome Home

**

* * *

**

Chapter 4: Welcome Home

* * *

"VC?" He called as he stood on the roof. "VC, are you still there?"

His eyes roamed the sky, looking.

"VC?" He screamed, emptiness hollowing his stomach.

The man stood in silence.

He turned around and headed towards the gutter.

"Did... did you need something, sweetie?"

He looked up and smiled brightly, "VC!" He shouted with excitement.

"Hello,"

"Where were you VC? I haven't seen you in…" He paused and wondered how long it had actually been since the last time he had seen it, "…in forever."

"It has been quite a long time, hasn't it?" The voice mused, "I'm sorry to say, but I'm being threatened by some interesting characters to stop talking to you. I don't want to see you getting hurt."

"Who?" He wondered with aggression.

"Who knows? All that matters is that I'm able to speak to you _now_." The voice laughed, "Now, sweetie, was there something that you needed?"

"VC, could you tell me a story?" He asked as he stretched out on the roof. His eyes were heavy but he was determined to stay awake.

The bright star he was looking at twinkled a little, "I don't see why not. But may I ask why you are requesting a story so early in the night?"

He crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes momentarily. Sinister tendrils of ink curled behind his lids, making his eyes feel heavy with sleep. Creatures moaned and sobbed in the bottom of his ears, making them ring with a low bass. Everything was dark.

His eyes flew back open and he told himself to never close his eyes like that again. He knew who was creating those monsters.

The stars sparkled.

"Is there a problem?"

He sighed, "No, no, just—" He failed to voice it the first time, "Just remembering bad times."

It laughed, "You're never going to improve and move on in life if you never let go of the bad times!"

The voice spilled warmth all throughout him and his heart ached gently. "I do suppose that is true."

He had missed their nightly talks.

"Of course it is," the voice murmured something afterwards, commenting to itself.

He did not say anything, not wanting to interrupt the voice in its thought process.

"Alright, I have a pleasant little story for you!" The smile was apparent in the voice, wrinkled with age.

He smiled weakly and relaxed. He kept an extra keen eye on the large star.

"Today while the sun was out, I did my usual people watching," the voice held a sort of wonder to it, a joy of its watching, "The act of kindness that I saw today was very simple… In fact, it can be almost dismissible! But I really liked it; it was a nice change of pace from the usual of today's modern day."

He smiled a little more, "It's always nice to hear about someone doing something good, rather than hearing about people doing something bad. I've heard enough of that everywhere else in the media."

He let out an uneven sigh.

"Today people were walking down the street like usual and all of a sudden, a man bumped into a woman and knocked her over." The voice laughed, "She probably wouldn't have fallen if it weren't for the shoes she was wearing. They had a very bad balance point."

He nodded, "Yes, so what happened? Did the man help her up?"

"Well, no,"

The man looked at the stars with confusion, "Well, then how is this a 'good deed' story?"

"Well give me a minute, please."

"Sorry," His lips curled back into their previous straight line.

"So when she fell over, he looked at her in a huff and made a rude comment about how revealing her clothing was and stormed off. And then, another man stepped up to her and offered a hand. He helped her up and said a few nice words of comfort. And the part that I like most is that his words were filled with _real_ concern and _real_ kindness. He didn't say those things in order to bed her. He said them because he cared. It was all rather sweet."

"Hmm," he held a true grin for a moment, "That cheered me up a little. Thank you VC."

"No need to thank me. After all, the only things I do all day are watch people and then tell you what _they_ did."

He pulled his arms back out from under his head and rested fully against the flat rooftop. He shut his eyes once again, this time on for a second or two, before he opened them.

"Sometimes, VC, I lose hope in humanity. It feels like all these people around me are killing themselves and each other as slowly as their minds will allow." His eyes closed again, the shadow monsters sitting against his face with great determination.

They snapped open again and he was forced to stand up in order to keep himself awake.

"While life these days has become focused on glamorized violence and the gentle sheltering of the youth, you shouldn't give up on your people. You need to have some faith in your fellow people. Don't let the people who are bad overshadow the people who are still good."

He paced a little, back and forth in a sharp oval. He stopped abruptly and slowly eased his hands back into his pocket. His eyes were forced open even wider and he looked back up at the sky.

"The human body is disgusting." The man told the voice.

"Sometimes it is," the voice agreed in a tone of hesitation.

"We're all just piles of meat and water trapped within a thin layer of _more_ meat. Our bodies are filled with disgusting hormones that make our hearts beat at rates that should not be done and they make our minds stop working correctly." He heavily shuttered, "While the juice that keeps us going is putrid and staining and overall disgusting. So sticky…"

"Why are you so negative?" The voice asked.

He contemplated quietly, eyes flickering between the speckles in space, before he answered, "Because I don't see anything positive."

He lowered his head and stepped over towards the gutter. He climbed down and entered the square and very beaten house.

"Todd,"

He turned towards the large hole in the boarded up window. "Yes, VC?"

The star twinkled, "Take care of yourself. Eat, sleep, and live. Please."

"Alright," his eyes lowered, a small smile creeping onto his face. He nodded, "Yeah, alright, I'll do that."

"Thank you,"

He nodded and stalked over towards his spot on the floor. He sank down onto the floor. He picked up his pencil.

* * *

I stood quietly on the sidewalk and felt my legs turn numb. It felt as if I were submerged in ice water.

I felt hollowed without the presence of my bear… I missed Shmee horribly and it had not even been more than a half-an-hour.

Carefully, I stepped over towards the house and started to climb the drainage pipe up to the second level. I could see my window, light still off, and I gently slid my way across the gutter and towards the sill.

I admired my neighbor for being able to do that so easily.

I clung to the small sill with desperation and pressed my hand against the glass. A small perspiration handprint formed and smeared as I pushed the window upward.

It moved slowly and my fingers were burning by the time the bottom of the frame came into view. When it did, I shoved my hand underneath desperately and forced the window open wider.

I scrambled in and fell on the floor with a heavy gasp.

Shmee stood up and stepped over to me. He knelt down at my side and looked at me with worry. "You should have snuck in by the front door when your father went back to his study."

I shuttered in a breath, "I should have."

Meatloaf was not speaking to me; which was a pleasure.

"Are you planning on staying here or are you going to leave for good?" He asked.

I closed my eyes sleepily and yawned. "I wish I could stay, I really do, but I shouldn't. I know that Dad will come in here tomorrow and most likely empty it. If he finds me here, I'll be in a lot of trouble."

"Then where will you go?"

I sat up and rubbed my hands together, still numb and pained from the outside. I had been thinking about that the very moment I was pushed onto the curb.

"Todd," Shmee's tone was low with warning.

"I…" My breath hovered in my throat and my voice faltered, "I was thinking…"

"Don't even think about this Todd. It's a horrible idea! You _are_ turning into that maniac, don't you see?" His voice startled low before it escalated into a scream.

I held my forehead as a heavy headache settled in my temples. "I'm not turning into my neighbor, Shmee. Trust me."

"No Todd, trust _me_. I've known you forever and I've seen the changes in you. I know what's going on. You _must_ listen to me." He was urgent now; rushing so that he could get all of his words spoken.

I sat quietly, panic settling into the base of my spine, and asked him to elaborate.

"You need to rid of the filth that has been gathering around you—"

"I'm not killing my parents!" I intervened with horror.

"You need to get away from this place, Todd! The longer you stay, the more you're exposed to it!"

"…to what?" I arched my eyebrow in question.

"Get away from the bad that gathers around that house! That house and your bad luck are related! You weren't nearly as attracted to bad things when you lived back in the city!" He shouted; his bear hands clenched tightly.

"Well then where should I go, Shmee? Where should I go? I can't afford an apartment at the moment and… it's abandoned… he's not coming back…"

"Go to one of the other abandoned houses on this street! There are plenty of them!"

It was plenty true. The ten houses on each side of my neighbor's house were abandoned; with an exception for mine.

It was partly due to the decline in the housing market and the fact that he had given the neighborhood a bad name. Mostly due to the fact that the highest death rate in the city occurred here…

Why had I not thought about that earlier? I absolutely detested the so-called 'heaven house', so why was it the first place I wanted to go to?

Maybe Shmee was…

…right?

No, that was not true.

It was not as if I dreamt about killing the people who were mean to me.

I was not like him at all!

"Yeah, that's a good idea." I told him as I stood up.

"Pack lightly," he reminded me.

"Yes, I know," I knelt down next to my bed and pulled the small suitcase out from underneath it. I placed it on the floor next to me and pulled the blanket off of my bed. I folded it as tightly as possible and filled up the right side of my suitcase with it.

I stood up and went over to my dresser. I packed an extra shirt, pants, and underwear; filling up the other half almost all the way.

I looked over at Meatloaf with hesitation.

Shmee's eyes were sharp against my back.

I walked over to the toy and picked him up.

He did not move.

I stepped back to my suitcase and placed him in the remaining space in my suitcase. I closed it, pressing down on it heavily so the clasps met, and shut it.

As I stood up heavily, I could feel Shmee's disappointed gaze on me. I looked at him sympathetically and silently begged for forgiveness.

Somewhere deep inside me, I knew I would feel wrong if I left Meatloaf behind.

I walked over towards my backpack and placed my notebook into it. I slung my bag over my shoulders and picked up Shmee and held him close.

I was suddenly reminded of Pepito and I wondered if I should instead go ask him for refuge.

The thought died when I remembered Mr. Diablo and the fact that Hell was in their basement…

The knot in my stomach tightened.

My arms tightened around Shmee and I gently stepped over towards my door. I opened it as quietly as I could and snuck out, tiptoeing my way down the short hall and towards the stairs.

I could hear my mother moaning heavily in her drug induced sleep, experiencing the symptoms—night terrors—of her pills. The light from my father's office sent a faint yellow glow against the wall down the remainder of the hall.

I descended the stairs in a way that prevented much noise and I slipped out of the house.

"Which house should I go to?" I asked him as I pressed the door close.

"Get as far away from that house as possible." He advised.

So with that, I started to walk.

I walked past my neighbor's house; the one that the elderly couple lived in. They had died three years ago and no one was willing to move into a house that was in such a bad area.

I walked further, passing house after house after house. A house at the very end of the street had a light on, a candle in the window, and I felt something in my chest hum with content.

My refuge would be close by.

The house next door to the candle home was droopy. I could remember. It was the house that was uninhabited for far longer than I had been around.

The paint was almost gone but as I drew closer I could see chips of manila clinging onto the corners and face. The windows were broken and the frames stolen. The porch was rotted from the past years of rain and when I took a step the floorboard broke.

My foot sank into the depths of the deck and I panicked. I struggled and gasped, pain coursing through my body as the fear overtook me. When I did manage to pull my foot out, I half expected to see some strange creature clinging to my toe.

Nothing was there except for a potato bug that crawled over to the toe of my shoe, curled into a ball, and rolled off. It fell into the darkness of under the porch and disappeared from sight.

My heartbeat was still fast and my breath could only come in with short bursts.

"Calm down," Shmee told me.

I slowly stepped across the deck, fearing that the floor would break under me again, but I looked up at the little house next-door and at the candle in the window and felt calmed.

The door nearly fell off its hinges when I opened it.

The inside was worse than the outside had made it seem, but it was mold free and stable as far as I could tell.

The living room was empty, with an exception for a small litter of cans in the far corner, and the wallpaper was stained. Some parts of it were rolling off or ripped.

It was dark within the house and my instincts told me something horrible would happen in there.

I stepped further and entered the kitchen area that branched from the living room. The island in the middle of the cracked tiled floor was dusty and stained. The rest of the room was empty except for the tiny little stove that was shoved in the wall. The spot where the refrigerator was placed was covered in yellowed stains and large dust bunnies snuggled in the corners.

I did not like this room either; flashes of knives and blood and fire came to mind.

The dining room branched from the kitchen but I held no ambition to wander in there.

I stepped back into the living room and sat down heavily onto the floor. It was slightly damp despite the fact that it had not rained recently. I placed Shmee down next to me and the suitcase in front of me. I pulled my blanket out along with Meatloaf.

I wrapped my blanket around my shoulders, hesitantly leaned back, and rested against the floor. Shmee rested next to my head and Meatloaf was near my side.

While I was extremely tentative about sleeping again, I told myself it was for the best.

Without sleep, the mind was known to do strange things.

I closed my eyes and felt rest cover me. It felt nice.

* * *

Shmee woke me up by tapping me on the forehead.

My eyes flew opened and for a moment I wondered if I was dreaming or not. I hoped I was not.

"I'm not sure what time it is, but you need to get ready for school." He told me as he stepped over towards my suitcase. He motioned towards it.

I stood up, my neck hurt, and I walked over to my case as well. I pulled my shirt off and placed it in a small heap next to Shmee. I slid on my extra shirt. I took off my pants and quickly changed my underwear before I slid the same pair back on.

They were not that dirty…

I glanced over at Meatloaf and felt a heavy chill curl up my back.

He did not make a move.

I rubbed the remainder of my sleep from my eyes and felt perfectly fine. Sure, I still had my nightmares, but it was nice that I was able to get a somewhat of a decent rest last night… despite the fact that I had to sleep on a very weak floor in a very beaten up house.

I pulled my backpack on, pulled a little piece of Shmee out of him, and placed it into my pocket. I hurried out the door.

I had decided that I would not get breakfast that day… honestly, I really should have brought a clock with me.

When I stepped outside and off the porch, I could see that the sun was just at the position it usually was during my walks to school.

"I wouldn't say you should hurry; incase you are up much too early, but I suggest you not linger for too long, Todd. For all we know, you could be late."

"Very true," I murmured. I could not help but look down the street and at the small point that was my house. I could not tell if there was anything on the sidewalk or not. It would be worth it to go over and snag some things to bring to my new 'residence' so that I would not have to rest on the ground again.

I would go over after school.

On my walk to school, I was surprised to see Pepito a little further ahead of me.

It was very strange, since we both walked to school at separate times, not bothering to wait for each other.

I have always preferred getting to school earlier than most of the other students.

I hurried somewhat and caught up to him.

He gave me a startled look and asked me what I was doing, going to school so late.

"My dad kicked me out of the house," I told him as I gripped the straps of my backpack a little tighter.

"What?" His head snapped towards me but his step never faltered.

I trailed next to him, "I was yelling at Meatloaf," I decided to leave out the total flip in his personality, "And Dad heard me. I lied to him and that didn't help his anger. So, he kicked me out. I found an abandoned house and I'm staying there until I get a decent job."

"Squee! Why didn't you just come to my house?" He shouted at me angrily.

I could see his disguise falter and the sight of his growing horns frightened me for a moment.

"You know I'd let you crash at my house! My mother likes you, you know. And I think Father does too."

I shuttered at the thought of the Devil liking me.

"I'm sorry, Pepito, but…" I struggled for a moment, grasping for the correct words, "But I don't feel comfortable in your house. Hell scares me."

He continued to give me an angered look. But he pushed his hands into his pockets unhappily. "Well, is that house you're staying in at least decent?"

I crossed my arms across my chest, "Not really, but I'm going to get some things from home and bring them to the house."

I did not mention the fact that those things would be found on the side of the road. I was sure he knew that as well, but he did not say anything about it.

"Do you need any help carrying them?" He asked.

The school was within sight.

"Maybe," I told him as my eyes flickered towards the ground.

"So does that mean I should follow you 'home' then?"

I nodded, "Sure, why not?"


	5. Dead Planet

**

* * *

**

Chapter 5: Dead Planet

**

* * *

  
**Pepito collapsed into the floor and exhaled profanities. The room flared in temperature and he angrily pulled himself from the rotten wood of my 'new' deck.

"Your 'house' sucks, Squee," he quoted the word 'house' to add another effect to his displeasure. He scowled and dragged in the framework of my bed.

I gave him a fleeting look, "Most of the other houses are no better." That was most likely true, but I had never really bothered to check. That light in the window looked so kind and homely; calling me to come over like Polaris… it gave me a feeling of comfort, that I would be okay… normal… near that light.

I pulled in the other half of my bed frame.

We put it together rather quickly and hurried out the door to get my mattress before the garbage people came and took my things away.

Pepito insisted that he carry my mattress alone and told me to get as many of my other things as I could get. He would come for my box-spring later.

I looked through my old toys and items. There was a tiny chair that was much too small for me now, my old lamp, and more of the toys my mother had gotten me.

I loved her so much… I wished she would not take so many painkillers… I wished she remembered who I was.

I looked at my night table and saw that my Brain Freezy was still on it. I found this really strange.

Too bad it was melted by now.

I threw my former icy drink into the trashcan next to my things and picked up my nightstand. The little drawer at the top rattled and I found that there was some change and quite a few pencils inside it. A spool of thread was also in there as well as a needle.

That would be useful.

I followed Pepito back 'home' and set my new little decoration down inside.

He propped my mattress against a wall and went back for my box-spring.

I took the time to look around a bit more, now that I had a sufficient amount of light, and found it far less droopy than it did the other night.

In fact, the room appeared much less ruined and more haunted then anything else.

That thought certainly sent a chill through my body.

The ghost girl had relented in haunting me once I turned thirteen. I was too old for her tastes, I believe she told me.

It was a disturbing thought, but I was starting to believe that the only reason she had stayed on the human planes of existence was because she liked me.

I shuttered.

The floors were still very weak under my feet, I observed, but they had much more stability than the porch.

Pepito stepped onto the porch, avoided the hole, and dragged my box-spring into the house. He hefted it up and put it on the frame work.

I went over to get my mattress and helped him place it on my box-spring.

"Thanks for the help, Pepito." I told him with a mild smile. I pulled my blanket off the floor and draped it across my retrieved bed. I placed Shmee against the headboard.

Meatloaf was on my nightstand.

"So, Squee, you're going to come over to dinner, right?" He asked as he stepped over towards the door. He looked at me from over his shoulder.

I nodded to him, "It doesn't seem like I have much of a choice; do I?"

He smiled and bared his sharp teeth, "No you don't."

I sighed and rubbed my head a little, "Alright, Pepito, I'll meet you there at six."

He paused, seemingly surprised that I did not opt to go to his house right away, before he nodded an understanding and left.

The door gave a soft thump as he closed it.

I sat down on my bed heavily and leaned back so that my head was next to Shmee.

"You're birthday is coming up." He reminded me.

I looked at him, "Really?"

He gave me a disturbed look.

"I didn't mean to sound like I forgot about my own birthday Shmee." I told him wearily.

* * *

He sat up and almost doubled over in pain. He held his stomach, or at least where his stomach used to be, and felt his skin tremble under his touch. His stomach rumbled, begging for food, and forced pain through his body.

His eyes fell to his notebook before they shifted to the door.

He stood up with weak legs and slowly trudged to the door.

"There are so many bad people out there, Todd," Meatloaf stepped over towards him, "Do you really want to put yourself to their mercy?"

The robot sneered.

He looked over at him weakly; hand rested against the doorframe for support, and felt his skin heat up with each hurried heartbeat.

"I need food."

"You need to stay inside or else something horrible will happen," he hinted.

He stared at him before he looked back at the door, "I believe it's time for me to take a chance." His hand gripped the doorknob and he turned it in painful sluggishness.

His body was worn and the simplest of things brought him either pain or fatigue. He slid out of the house and felt the air clench around him. He did not bother to close the door.

His eyes closed and he gently stepped down the small walkway. He felt like he was living, if only slightly, again. Like he was solid once more.

"Don't be a fool, Todd! You're going to be killed out there. Some freak is going to knock open your skull in a dark alley!" Meatloaf screamed at him.

He heavily continued, eyes pointed down the road, and felt his heart tug. The further he went, the more his heart ached, and the more he missed the heaven house.

He felt his spine and hips burn.

The man turned the corner and felt the sun disappear. Panic slid through his skin and he forced his body to move faster, no matter how much it hurt.

Meatloaf could not have been right, he told himself as he hurried, the sight of the 24/7 coming into view. He had to have been faking; it was all a ruse to scare him, that was all.

Of course, he theorized.

He walked into the 24/7 and felt the air conditioner chill him straight to the bone. It was relatively easy, considering he was only skin and bones…

The girl at the counter stared at him, muttered something rude, and looked at the small portable television again.

He took long, heavy steps towards the back of the store and found that the Brain Freezy machine was still there. He could feel his heart jump with joy.

They even had the same flavors from so long ago.

He happily poured himself an Icy Ham Freezy for old time's sake and stepped to the counter. He dug into his pocket and felt a sweaty bill and was instantly relieved.

He placed the cup on the surface and looked at her.

She wrinkled her nose, "You smell like shit," she told him acidly.

He blinked with surprise and slowly smelled himself. He did not smell anything…

… But then again, when was the last time he washed up himself and his clothing?

Days and nights flew by so quickly… so slowly… and he would not move for them at all…

How long had it actually been?

He could not tell.

"I'm sorry," he replied and handed her his practically melted money.

She scowled but took it anyway.

He thanked her quietly and made a turn to leave. His mind was fading…

He rounded the street corner and felt his eyes close.

* * *

When he woke up, he found that his head ached terribly.

Was he actually attacked, like Meatloaf had warned him?

He sat up tiredly and rubbed his head. The pain only coursed harder and the alley spun quickly. He took a moment to center himself. "Where am I?" He asked aloud.

"Alley,"

He turned his head sharply and stared at the hobo. The movement certainly did not help his already queasy state.

The shabby man seemed somewhat familiar.

"I haven't seen ya in a couple o' years," he said offhandedly, "I barely recognized ya. You look worse than me!" He laughed but it did not reach his eyes.

"Did you attack me?" He asked as he pulled himself to his feet. He held a hand against the narrow alley's wall in order to keep himself standing.

"Nope! Just brought ya here! You took a nasty l'il fall, ya did. Cracked ya head on the curb." He replied cheerfully.

That certainly explained the pain.

He looked down at his sticky hands and sighed heavily.

He must have spilled his Brain Freezy when he fell over… what a shame.

"I should be getting home," the dying man whispered. He practically dragged himself to the sidewalk.

"You look like a fellow I saw many, many years ago."

He stopped and turned slightly. "Who?" He mouthed, almost afraid to hear the answer…

… In fact, what was that insane man's name again?

Was his name something that started with an 'n'?

"He never told me his name. But! He did give me some of his comics! 'Happy Noodle Boy'! His name is on it though!" He was overly joyful now, shaking with excitement. He pulled out a small stack of aged paper and showed it to him.

"Johnny C!"

He shook his head, the recognition of the situation sinking, "Doesn't ring a bell." He continued down the alleyway.

* * *

"It sure did sound like you did, Todd." Shmee told me suspiciously.

I honestly had not forgotten, but replying with a question was a simple reflex that I was not able to catch in time.

"Well I haven't." I smiled at him wearily. I appreciated his concern for me quite a lot. And while I understood that he was a part of me… a part of me that I never really expressed… I still was glad to hear those words.

Genuine concern…

I had not heard very much of that in my life.

"Thank you for the concern, though,"

"You're welcome," Shmee replied to me.

We struck a quiet spell then, neither of us moving at all.

My breath drew to an almost sleep-like level and my eyes shifted from Shmee to Meatloaf. I was both relieved and perturbed by his silence. I believed I was starting to see a pattern, hopefully.

I still could not forget about that night. I could not forget how different—almost frightening—Meatloaf had become. I had thought he was my 'neglected' child side… But I did not think so anymore…

Perhaps he was something worse?

I sat up and turned myself around so that I faced my nightstand. "Meatloaf?" I asked tentatively.

"Todd," Shmee warned me in a low tone.

I dismissed him momentarily, "Meatloaf, speak to me please."

His eyes flashed on and he eagerly looked at me. "What'ja need, Todd?"

I stared at him for a moment before I replied evenly, "Why did you act so… differently… the other day?" That was a light way to put it.

"I acted differently?"

My heart sank. Could my voice possibly have multiple personalities? No, that was absurd. Of course not…

But, then again, him having D.I.D. (if he actually did, that is) was much better than him tricking me; using me.

"Yes, you did," I told him quietly.

"I'm sorry," he seemed to have quieted down as well.

I wondered if he was going to act differently again.

"Why are you sorry?" I wondered why he had said an apology to something that did not really warrant one.

…Unless he was able to prevent it..?

I felt even more worry struggle under my skin and I instinctively grabbed a hold of Shmee. I hugged him close to my chest and felt some of the pressure ease.

He glared at Shmee, atmosphere turning harsh, before he replied with an almost strained grin, "Never mind!"

And the room settled back into a normal aura, I wondered what time it was.

I had really should have gotten a clock.

I stood up to check my pockets for money. I pulled out a small wad and found that I only had seven dollars…

Well, that certainly was not good.

I put my money back into my pocket and held my head with one of my hands. A gentle headache formed in my temples and my stomach squirmed with panic.

I needed a job, and quick.

I could not continue living in that moldy house and returning home was simply out of question.

I needed a steady job and a good but cheap apartment.

Oh, that was laughable!

I could feel age settle down on my shoulders and my spine compressed a little further. I had a sudden feeling of foreboding, like my life was a speeding train that was about to derail. I could feel my own destruction lingering ahead and behind me, trapping me in.

"What's wrong, Todd?" Shmee asked me.

I finally remembered that he was still tucked in my right arm, "I'm just thinking about work," I told him. As I took a seat back onto my bed, I placed my bear next to me.

"I don't know what to do, Shmee. I really need to find a full time job and quickly. I can't live off of fifteen dollars a week!" I held my head with both of my hands. I tucked my head in between my shoulders and felt my back ache dully.

"Go into town and look for help-wanted signs, then. Maybe there's a position at that book store you enjoy so much."

"That's a good idea," I told him with a tiny smile. I pulled a small amount of stuffing from Shmee, kept a keen eye on Meatloaf, and placed it in my pocket. I was very surprised to see that the robot did not comment. I stood back up and turned to the door.

"I don't know the time, so I should go to Pepito's now. I'll be back later." I told Meatloaf as I left.

I could feel his glare on my back.

* * *

That Saturday, I stepped up to Dragon Books and looked inside with masked vigor. I had no clue what my luck had in store for me that day; but there was a help-wanted sign in the window and it called to me. My hopes were high, despite the common knowledge that something bad must happen for this to be true and, overall, I felt good.

It was an odd sensation, I noticed with a sense of foreboding, feeling so hopeful. I never noticed how… beak I really was.

I was worried about that.

Shmee did not comment.

I walked over to the entrance and allowed myself in. I inhaled the smell of dust, fresh and old paper, and patchouli; my body shuttered contently at the warmth that those smells brought to me. Happiness spilled across my skin and I bustled over towards the front counter.

I put on a smile.

The woman working there gave me a wary look as I approached her.

I wondered vaguely if I looked like a hooligan.

"Hello, my name is Todd Casil," I introduced, "I was wondering if I could apply for a job here."

I would have liked to say that she relaxed somewhat, but that would be a lie. In fact, she seemed even more suspicious of me. But that was a different sort of unease; one that made me feel like she knew something bad that I did not. But, I did not think she felt that way because she thought I was going to do any harm to her or the shop.

"Sure," she said, "Right now we really need someone to work the register from five to ten at night. We close at ten, so you would have to close shop and bring the money to the owner, Mr. DeWine. If that's not okay for you, we also need stockers. You know, open packages of new book orders and organize them. The hours are pretty open for you." She explained to me. "Oh, and I'm Devi D."

I nodded curtly to her and grabbed the yellow sheet of paper she handed to me. "Nice to meet you; thank you," I took a seat over in the sitting area and pulled a pencil out of my pocket.

"You should go for the stocking duty. Choose a time from the end of school to eight."

"But that's only five hours," I mumbled, trying to be discrete.

"Once you graduate, you can request for longer hours."

"True," I quietly filled out the form, the soft smells of the old book store lulling me into a state of security. I really did hope that I would get that job. It did not seem like it required much skill other than a love for books and it allowed me to work in an environment that could possibly help eradicate my crippling writer's block.

"She gives me an uneasy feeling," Shmee told me out of the blue, "Which is strange since she seems normal…"

I paused and pondered that myself. It was true that she had given me an awkward feeling, but I assumed that it was mostly due to her initial look at me. "Same here," I whispered close to my chest, eyes closed, and pencil gripped loosely in my hand.

"Any ideas why?" He asked.

It was the worst place and time to be conversing about such things. As well, I had no ideas either.

"No," I stood up and walked over towards the counter. I handed her the slip.

"Perhaps she's a bad person in disguise?"

I internally shook my head.

No, she did not seem like someone like that. I could tell right away that she was not like a lot of people in the streets…

I turned and hurried towards the back of the rows, out of her sight, and shook my head with exaggeration, "No, I don't think so, Shmee," I replied in a quiet voice. I scanned the lines of books, looking for an interesting title.

"What makes you think so?" He asked.

I shrugged a little to myself and pulled out a small green book with the title of 'Storm Thief'. I scanned the back intently and found myself slightly interested. I put it back and kept the name in my memory.

I did not have the money at the moment to get anything, sadly.

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest. She doesn't seem like a bad person and the only thing I can really say that is strange about her is the fact that she seems really uneasy. Mistrusting, I guess." I could not very well judge someone who I did not know.

"I definitely sense something from her."

I sighed heavily and rubbed my neck, "Have some faith, Shmee,"

I found that I had spent enough time browsing within Dragon Books and I headed back home.


	6. Whale Teeth

**

* * *

**

Chapter 6: Whale Teeth

* * *

It was interesting how graduation and my birthday were on the same day. I had told myself that it was just a coincidence, but deep down inside me, I knew it was not. I _knew_ something was going to happen that day.

The thought put me in a worry the rest of the week. This did not help much, since I was already worried about all the other things happening in my life at that moment; that job proposal (they had yet to contact me about that,) my living arrangements, the wonder if I had money for college, and such other things. In fact, I was so worried by the time Friday came around, I was convinced that something horrible would befall me later that day.

I felt death linger at the back of my throat as I sat through the ceremony.

Pepito sat next to me, dressed in a graduation gown just like mine, and nudged me in the arm.

I looked at him with a quirked brow.

"Are you okay?" He whispered under the sound of the guest speaker's speech.

I nodded and turned my attention back to the speaker, "I'm okay. You?"

I could see him shrug from my peripheral view.

"Let's talk later; after the ceremony. Okay?" I whispered gently. I could not shake my initial sense of anxiety.

"Good idea,"

I nodded and listened carefully to the speaker.

Admittedly, I had no idea who the man was, but I was glad that he was not talking about useless things. Better yet, he was not talking about unintelligent things either.

It was a good speech.

I just hoped that my fellow peers comprehended those words and kept them to mind like I did.

When everyone and I had gotten our diplomas, we were allowed to shrug off our proper posture and converse amongst one another.

I was immediately pulled aside by Pepito.

"Where are your parents?" He asked with his eyes squared on me.

I glanced around. When I did not see hide nor hair of either of my parents, I simply shrugged. "They didn't come."

He frowned deeply and grunted, "I really hate your parents, Squee. I really do."

I gave him a saddened look but could not bring myself to say anything.

He shook his head, "I really should have told Mom about you—"

"Thank you for not telling her," I interjected quickly.

Pepito's mother was a social worker and I had begged him not to tell her about my home situation.

I loved my parents and I would not be able to deal if I were suddenly forced away from them. It would have left my heart aching terribly if I were taken to an orphanage.

He grunted a second time, "I should have anyway. Anyway: happy birthday Squee!" He grinned, sharp teeth flashing, and patted me on my shoulder.

I smiled back, "Thank you,"

He held up a hand to pause me. He lifted his graduation gown and dug through his pant's pocket, "Here," he handed me something.

I nearly shouted with surprise when I looked down at the brand new, shiny watch he had handed to me. I was at a loss for words, so I simply stared agape at it and then at him.

He smiled even wider, "Check it out! When you press the winding part, it'll start glowing!"

I tested it and found that the face cast a blue glow when I did. I still had no idea how I could express my thanks to him.

The Anti-Christ continued to babble about the neat little extras that the watch had, but I was still in such awe that I had not heard most of what he had said.

"Thank you so much," I told him with a look of happiness.

He stopped mid-sentence and replied with a quick, "You're welcome,"

A shiver ran down my spine as Mister and Missus Diablo stepped over towards us. I quickly slid on the watch and thanked Pepito once again.

That really meant a lot for me. I should have thanked him several more times.

Mister Diablo was in disguise and, if I had not known better, seemed normal. Missus Diablo smiled at me in that motherly way of hers.

My skin felt warmer, but I was sure it was because I was so close to the beings of Hell.

"Have you told Todd yet, my son?" He asked.

I prickled with curiosity as I looked between father and son. I wondered if he were referring to my birthday.

"Not yet, Father," he replied. His expression was suddenly sober as he turned from his father to me.

I waited for him to speak. I did not want to rush him.

"I'm going off to Hell for a few years." He told me.

I stood stock still and waited for something else to be said. When nothing was uttered, I lowered my eyes. "Oh,"

Pepito placed a hand on my shoulder, "Sorry, amigo. It's in order to help me become a better leader." He smiled weakly, "The best way to deal with the damned is to work with the damned, right?"

I could tell he was floundering and quickly, so I laughed meekly at his joke.

"Are you okay with this?"

I looked at him incredulously, "Of course I'm okay with it." I was not going to allow myself to tell him the truth.

"You don't sound very okay," he replied with a look of worry. He gave me a squeeze on my shoulder.

"I'm fine, Pepito. I'll just miss you, that's all." I told him as I placed my hand on his own shoulder.

He grinned, "I'll miss you too, amigo,"

I nodded, "How long will you be away?"

"About three years,"

My face fell. He had said a few years, but the reality had not hit me until the true number was spoken.

"Don't worry; I'll take some time off to visit!"

Mister Diablo did not seem very happy about that, but he did not say anything about it.

"That's nice to hear," I wished I could have smiled. I wished I could have forced myself to smile, just to reassure him with his decision. I could not though… I could not bring myself to do it.

I should have done it, so he would not have given me that look of unease, because I could not allow myself to be the cause of his unhappiness. I refused to be the obstacle to someone else's dream… goal. Not again… never again.

A small sliver of teeth was shown as I forced upon him my smile. I must act happy for him, was the only thing I thought; I must not allow him to be swayed away from his dream simply because I would be lonely.

Now that I thought about it, no, I do not think I would be lonely. I have always been one to stick towards the background, even despite my incredibly bad luck, and I have never had friends until I had met Pepito. And even then, I was not very willing to be his companion…

I would be fine without him. I had Shmee, after all.

He looked at me with suspicion, "Are you sure?"

I nodded, "Yes, yes, I'm fine."

"Okay,"

My mind felt hazy and I had the overwhelming urge to sit down and close my eyes. I willed it away with ease and looked between the three Diablos with the ever-impeding feeling of being an outsider.

The remainder of the graduation ceremony was filled with an awkward air; or, at least, for me.

* * *

My chest felt like it was on the brink of collapsing in on itself. I held the side of my head and lowered myself down onto my bed. My muscles screamed at me and my skull ached as a headache formed.

I felt absolutely terrible.

I closed my heavy eyes and felt my body yell at me to get up. I had no idea why I had the feeling that I needed to get up (since it seemed logical that resting would ease the pain) and it confused me to no end. But I ignored the feeling and rested.

"You're falling apart,"

The voice did not register a face in my mind. I opened my eyes and sat up with caution. "Hello?" I called out in ill-ease.

"Just look at you! You're weak!" The voice scoffed afterwards, "Can't even handle a little bit of pain, weak little fuck."

I glanced around the room. I thanked god that it was still relatively light outside.

My body stung and tingled with fear and I could feel panic overcome me. When I did not see anything, I called out in dread, "Who's there?"

The air was still and silence fell over the sagged house.

My breath held tight in my chest as I waited.

"That doesn't sound good,"

I jumped and toppled onto the floor. My nerves yelled at me angrily and punished my body for the sudden impact. I looked up and saw that Shmee had moved to the edge of my bed. My heart settled a fraction at the sight of him. My breath had yet to catch up.

"Shmee!" I exhaled in shock.

He hushed me with a lift of his paw and looked around with suspicion. He bounced onto the floor and glared around the room. He paced in circles before he stopped straight in his tracks. "Speak!" He yelled.

I jumped to my feet and looked around in fear. I noticed that I was much less alert than I usually was during my usual spikes of adrenaline.

A cackle seeped through the room and it chilled me to my bones.

I shook and looked around with fright, "Who's there?" I called out.

"Show yourself!" Shmee screamed beside me.

The laughter continued before it trilled off, "Look down,"

We did.

My eyes blurred as the grain of the floorboards swirled within my vision. My head felt light and my body pain disappeared in a flash. The conscious feeling of my being vanished and I felt my mind hover.

The lines of the floor wiggled and shifted. Darkened and split. Slowly, an image formed.

A circle, dots inside. A long line extending from the circle. More lines forked from uneven spots on the longer line; on the base. A creature, crude, was formed. Head, eyes, body, legs, tail. Triangles sprung from the head to make ears.

A cat.

A smile formed on the two-dimensional feline, "I suggest you hang yourself in front of the door. So that when someone finally checks out the house, they'll have a nice little scare." It giggled with glee, "Sooner the better, I say. People always freak out more when the person is still recognizable."

My skin crawled and I stumbled back. I was in a daze.

"Wha—?" I murmured heavily.

"Go ahead, Todd, get a rope and do it. You're nothing,"

"Who—"

"Stop speaking!" Shmee yelled as he crouched down and stared at the drawing with a glare.

The cat sneered and stalked over towards my feet.

"Who are you? Wh- What are you?" My heart convulsed like mad and it was hard to keep my balance. I felt completely drained. Well, at least the pain was gone.

I leaned against my headboard.

"Oh, you don't know who I am? Pity. My name is Mabel. I'll tell you right now so there's no confusion: I hate you, Todd. I really do."

It felt like the room was spinning.

I had no idea what was going on. I did not know what that thing was. I did not know what that thing wanted.

My world spun even faster and my palms exhaled sweat. The slick did not help my already weak grip on my bed's headboard and I noticed that my balance was becoming even worse.

"Why?"

Shmee looked up from the floor and to me. His eyes were held large for reasons I did not know and he seemed to be at a loss for words.

I slowly knelt down and gestured for Shmee to come to me. My eyes never left the floor where "Mabel" was.

He stepped forward and tucked himself in between my arms.

Calm washed through me and I felt the room slow down. My eyes settled and my mind cleared.

Shmee grunted.

I stood up and stared down at 'Mabel', "Why?" I asked again.

It sneered, tiny little triangles appearing for teeth, and replied in a simple little voice, "Must there always be a reason? Is it wrong for me to just _be_?"

"There must be a reason for you to not like me… um… Mabel… It's strange. I don't think we've ever met." I told it.

Shmee remained quiet within my grip, feeding off of the perplexity of the situation.

"You silly child, of course we have met! I am simply a creation of your own self!" It prowled back and forth between my feet.

I took a step back, "A creation of myself?" It dawned on me then, "You're just like him aren't you?"

It seemed to jeer silently at my realization, "Depends; who is this 'him'?"

I turned and pointed heavily towards the robot on my nightstand, "Meatloaf," I told her simply.

"Oh, you're just so smart, aren't you?" It mocked, "A brilliant boy, aren't you?"

My body flushed and deep down inside me, I could feel its hurtful words dig into my heart. The strange thing was that I knew it should not have gotten to me like it did, but I was unable to brush off its condescending words. I was usually very good at ignoring rude words… I wondered why this was different.

"Why are you here?" I said without really paying attention, "Why are you within existence? Why am I creating you?" I noticed that my head was spinning again and that my mind was hazed with questions and the need for answers.

It shook its head, "Oh, you poor conceited boy. You really are very stupid, aren't you?"

I looked down at Shmee and watched him tremble with anger. My line of vision shifted from him to my empty nightstand. My gaze flickered from the stand to the room, scanning for the little robot.

He ended up being on the floor… right in front of me. He wore a smile that set my nerves on fire.

"Meatloaf?" I asked with caution.

"She's right, Todd,"

My heart lodged into my throat as the overwhelming sense of superiority that was in his voice slammed into me. My clench on Shmee only became tighter and the walls felt even closer then they did before. I thanked god that my grip did not hurt Shmee.

"What do you mean by that?" Shmee personified for me.

Mabel 'tsk'-ed at me and prowled back and forth like a lithe puma. Her head shook as she walked.

My solar plexus tightened.

"How can you not get this, boy?" The cat snapped, baring her small and pointed teeth.

Meatloaf lifted a hand and made her pause, "No Mabel," he told her, eyes keen on my rather than her, "He should figure it out on his own."

"I knew he was bad, Todd!" Shmee yelled at me.

I had that feeling as well. They both had that bad aura to them and I felt bad luck radiate from their direction. I had the feeling that they were bad and that I had to get away from them.

Perhaps that was what I should do?

All I had to do was leave the house. For all I knew, perhaps Mabel was trapped within that house alone? And I could leave Meatloaf there as well.

Would he be able to follow?

"Get out of here, Todd," my bear told me.

I nodded and stepped back. I came closer and closer to the door.

Meatloaf followed me at the exact same pace. "You have no where else to go. What would be the reward of you running away? Ending up homeless? Hmm? We're not here to hurt you, Todd. We're here to help you! You need to understand this!"

"How—"

"We're here to ready you for the world. Your bear may seem like he's helping you, but all he's doing is sheltering you. He's sheltering you just like your neighbor used to. He's taking away your experiences and keeping you a 'clean slate' to the world. Face it, Todd," his eyes narrowed, "You haven't learned a thing from those bad occurrences. You haven't become stronger after experiencing them. You're still a child in an adult body, albeit smatter than one. You're still afraid of everything, even things that men your age shouldn't be phased by. Do you know why? It's because _he_ is taking those experiences; the ones that should have helped you become stronger, and he's been feeding himself on them!" Meatloaf ended in a scream.

"Don't listen to him, Todd!" Shmee screamed back at me, "He knows nothing! He's lying in order to trick you! In order to get me out of the way!"

My body was stiff and my steps back halted. I felt myself go blank as I considered those words. And with a clatter, my mind rattled and reeled the word "sheltering" all around my thoughts. I wondered if it were true or not; me being sheltered. Was I really being _sheltered_?

It did not feel like it, but…

But I could understand why it seemed like I was…

"Nicely put," Mabel commented from under my left foot. I jumped back and thumped against the wall. The door was to my left.

Shmee urged me on towards the door. To go outside and to get away, he told me.

I slid towards the door and wrapped my hand around the knob. I opened it and stumbled out.

"You have nowhere else to go!" Meatloaf screamed at me, "You're making a mistake!"

I scrambled out and fell onto my back. My head slammed against the railing around the deck and my vision swam. Pain shot through my head and my back. I stumbled to my feet and towards the door. I slammed it shut and felt cool air flow like water into my lungs.

"Todd, you need to sit down," Shmee told me.

I just noticed that he was not in my arms anymore and he was actually sitting on the front steps. I decided I would wonder about that at a later time.

"You hit your head really hard. You should check for a concussion." He advised.

I picked him up and ignored his suggestion. Maybe… Maybe Meatloaf was right about him?

I was not sure.

I carefully walked down the steps and towards the sidewalk. I had just noticed that the sun had set and that it was very dark out. The streetlamps did not cast a very fair glow and I found myself being eaten by the darkness that settled in between the few lamps.

Shmee continued to pester me, telling me to stop and rest.

My head felt like it was splitting in two and I was faintly disturbed by the scrapping sounds that came from the house I just left. But I ignored them and continued on.

I did not know where I was going, but I was not about to stop walking now.


	7. Sour Termites

**

* * *

**

Chapter 7: Sour Termites

* * *

The air around me felt like molasses, heavy and sweet. It flooded my lungs and forced my legs to slow.

My head throbbed terribly and the dim lights of the streetlamps ahead wobbled back and forth like fireflies.

The sidewalk swayed.

"Todd, you must sit down! You have a concussion!" Shmee screamed at me. He jumped out of my arms and positioned himself in front of me. He clung onto my legs and weighed me down.

The ground rose with speed and slammed into my body. My nose made a cracking noise and liquid started to squirt onto the pavement. Blood bubbled down my lips.

Shmee stood above me, looking down at me and trying to push my head back. He was talking to me, telling me not to fall asleep and to look at him.

My head was forced up to the sky and I was turned around. My back rested against the erect sidewalk and my vision filled with night sky. I was a little confused as to why I did not see the other end of the street. I looked down at my feet and saw that the way I came was under me.

I was floating.

Shmee stood sideways above my head and looked down at me. "Todd, you _have_ to get help."

"I'm fine, Shmee." I told him and I tried to walk away. I found myself stuck in space and I stopped in my attempt.

"Todd, do you even know where you are?" He asked me, voice high.

"Of course I do. I'm trying to walk… somewhere,"

"You're lying on the sidewalk, bleeding profusely!"

"Sidewalk?" I asked and looked around carefully. Everything seemed normal and I did not feel like I was lying down. "Are you sure the world didn't just turn sideways?"

"I'm positive!"

My eyes felt heavy, "M'sleepy,"

Shmee smacked me up side my head, "Stay awake! You could never awake if you go to sleep now!"

I certainly did not want that to happen. "Are you sure? I don't feel like I'm on my back…" I told him with an almost muted voice.

He frowned even deeper and poked me in the shoulder, "You need to get up and find help. Your concussion is worse than I thought."

"But you told me to rest…"

"I changed my mind. You should go to the hospital."

I slowly sat up and saw the world spin to the correct way. My splitting headache still stayed and I just noticed how much my nose hurt. For some reason, though, my perception felt clearer. "I'm going to walk to the hospital?"

"Yes, or you can go to town and ask one of the businesses there for help." He advised me. He paced back and forth beside me, little arms held behind his back.

I wobbled to my feet and felt something ring in my ears. "Shmee," I slowly bent over and picked him up. I was dangerously close to falling over again, "Shmee,"

"Yes?"

"I feel really bad…" I told him as I took a heavy step forward.

"I'm sure,"

"Which store is open at this time?" I paused, "...what time is it?"

"You'll see when you get into town,"

"Am I going the right way?"

"Looks right to me,"

"Okay,"

* * *

My slow trudge into town felt like it lasted for hours. Considering my speed, though, I would not have been surprised if it had actually taken me the amount of time to get there.

It was interesting how I found myself in front of Dragon Books again. I remembered then how they still had not gotten back to me and how, perhaps, I really did not get the job.

All of a sudden a thought came to me. The contact number I had written down was my home phone number. The Casil residence phone number… It had not occurred to me that perhaps they were trying to get a hold of me and that I was not able to answer because I no longer lived there. That was a lovely predicament.

The book store was open, so it must not have been too late.

I was relieved.

The woman at the counter seemed nervous and continuously looked up at the clock on the far wall.

My head pulsed and a deep-rooted sting shot through my skull and I felt my legs buckle in slightly as they grew weak. Blood still dripped from my nose but it felt slower than it did before.

"Todd, you need to get in there and ask for help," Shmee told me hurriedly.

I reached for the handle and found that my hand slipped right through it. I tried again… once again… I closed my eyes and gave a shaky exhale.

By this point, the lady at the counter had noticed me and she presented me a look of horror.

I decided just to push the door open by the glass. The push handle obviously was not going to cooperate with me that night. My hand was slightly bloody, I noticed, as I pushed up against the glass with all my might.

The door flew open easily and the floor flew to my face for a second time that night. My nose made another cracking noise and a fresh batch of blood sprayed out. I groaned.

"Todd," Shmee yelled at me, slightly muffled by my body, "Todd, are you okay?"

It was so hard to keep my eyes open; almost painfully hard. I could feel myself being flipped over and the vision from my half-lidded eyes was blurred.

The figure I saw was most likely the woman. "What happened to you? Oh god, an ambulance, I need to cal— zzzzzzzzt sssssssh."

My mind became static and my eyes closed.

Shmee screamed at me to be okay.

I would have obeyed him, but I just could not fight it.

* * *

I cannot recall for sure what happened next, since I was quite unconscious. But, I do have to say that before I was resurrected by the paramedics, my mind was calm and devoid of the ringing. Devoid of the voices.

It was, perhaps, the most peaceful I had ever been in the entirety of my life.

And then a jolt of electricity coursed through my heart.

* * *

My being was revived with a shock. I found the sear of pain through my chest and my skin flushed. My vision remained cloudy. My mind felt like it was on a pottery wheel, spinning around and around.

My eyes were peeled back and a hardened man looked down on me. "Tell me the date," he demanded out of the blue.

The date? That was a good question. What was the date?

I was not sure of that. When was the last time I had looked at a calendar? All I really knew was that it was after graduation.

When was graduation?

On my birthday…

So how many days had it been since my birthday?

I did not think it had been that many…

My pause must have been profound, since the man said, "Alright, if you don't know that, at least tell me the year."

"2007," I told him in a feather light voice. Tiredness sat on me roughly and I wanted to shut my eyes so badly. If only that man had not kept them open.

"What's your name?"

I flinched in pain as it shot through my skull. "Todd Casil," I ground out.

"Your age,"

"Eighteen," I gasped and clawed at the bed.

"Settle down!" He ordered, mustache bouncing above his lip with each word, "Or else you'll break something!"

I arched my back before I was slammed back down. I squirmed under the restraining hands before I slowly calmed down.

"Good, good," he said, "Now, do you know where you are?"

"A hospital?" I asked apprehensively.

"That's right. Y'know why?"

The pain in my head only grew as my answers came out. To my displeasure, the ringing in my ears was back as well. "I hit my head,"

"Tell me where it hurts,"

I took a sluggish inventory of my body and felt my head, nose, neck, and back ache were in terrible pain. Possibly a seven on a scale of ten… I told the man of my pain and felt the hot drip of molten iron sizzle down my spine. My lips puckered as I made my pain present.

"Are you allergic to anything?" He asked me, making sure we had eye contact.

"No," I withered out through clenched teeth. I released a heavy scream as the burning intensified.

The hands were harder than steel on my muscles, keeping me down roughly. Whether the pressure was meant to be so harsh or not, I could not tell.

It felt almost as if they purposely wanted to harm me…

* * *

"You promised me you would take care of yourself." She told him through the cracks in the ceiling. A light shimmer trapped behind folds of darkness.

He strained against the dust filtered light and dropped his worn pencil.

The nub rolled off the paper.

"You haven't eaten in quite a while. How do you expect to live if you don't eat or drink?"

Honey smoothed over his muscles as he stood up.

"How do you expect to finish it if you die?"

He froze on the spot and carefully tilted his head to the ceiling, "I see," he rasped out.

"Who do you think is going to read it?" The other she yelled from the opposite wall. "Do you really think someone will find it? In this hellhole? Give up! No one will see it, so stop and die already!"

"I agree,"

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He turned carefully and stared at the neat stack of bones that rested in a rust colored corner.

"Don't put yourself through the torture of living. Don't put through the torture of the demon," the small rodent skeleton chattered, "The demon of the house, the demon of your mind; don't hurt yourself any further. Don't allow the grey-matter beings to eat your brain. End this joke, before you are permanently damaged."

"'Permanently damaged?' So I'm temporarily damaged right now?" The man asked quietly.

"Yes,"

His lips pressed together tightly, "I'm hungry,"

"Go eat, then," VC cooed.

He hobbled into the kitchen and pulled open the ancient refrigerator. He was surprised to see it running.

The food, however, was spoiled.

In the back, next to the baking soda, was a jar of vegemite.

The jar was heavy in his hand, brand new it seemed. He carefully took it to the table and rested it on the top. He knocked the gun onto the ground and hefted himself up onto the table's surface. He laid down on it, like he was on an autopsy table, and pulled the jar onto his instrumental ribs.

"You look ridiculous," Mabel told him from the ceiling.

"So be it." He replied.

The jar was difficult to open and more than once did he think about smashing the top off. His knuckles broke through skin, yellowing skin turning into snow.

The top popped off and rolled down his side. It landed on the floor with a clatter. It spun on its rim for a while before it landed to silence.

He plunged his dirt encrusted fingers into the thick, brown topping and brought it to his tongue. Sour splattered down his senses, blinding him momentarily. His stomach was renewed and it whined and demanded for more.

"Why, Todd, are you doing this to yourself?" He asked, "Why are you torturing your body like that?"

His body, despite the aches and pains, continued to move; to scoop more of the food out.

Dirt, dust, sweat, and vegemite all slathered down his throat like enraged snakes, his egg-sized stomach filling quickly.

The sickness of all those who have lived past their days and those who never do a thing settled upon him. Bricks upon bricks of weakness crashed down on him, weighing him to the table.

His eyes did butterfly wings and then closed.

"Don't you see what is going on?"

They flew open. His eyes slid to the floor and spotted the small, rusting robot.

"Meatloaf,"

"Don't you see? You were fine without food. Fine without sleep. Look at what it's done to you. It makes you tired. It makes you hurt. Soon you will die because of these factors."

He laughed like a bitter old man, "Tired? Hurtful? I feel that way already." He said with a soft voice. His tortured vocal cords scratched with every word, like a broken vinyl that refused to stop spinning. "I don't quite understand why you're trying to keep me alive, Meatloaf, but I have a fair idea as to why. I will die soon enough, be from doing something or doing nothing. I'm dying," he set the jar down next to his hip and carefully lifted himself up. His bones broke but repaired themselves at insane speeds.

He would never question it.

The man pulled himself off the table, crushed his bare foot on the gun, and stood with weak legs. His thin arms held him up with slightly more strength then they should have and he stared down at the toy with watered down anger. "I cannot stop it and you cannot quicken it. I won't allow myself to die in your way. I won't let you make me die in pain."

Meatloaf grinned, "Who knows. Maybe if I try hard enough, I'll get what I want."

He stepped over to his stop on the floor with labor and crashed down. There was a moment of recovery before he picked up his pencil and brought it down to the paper.

* * *

I woke up to a woman's face.

She stared at me with a startled look before she leaned back.

It was the woman from the bookstore.

She stood up and turned around.

I looked around carefully and found the room to be very bare. I should have expected that, though. After all, I was legally an adult now; my parents would not have to be forced to the hospital.

The woman turned back around and handed me an object.

Soft, plush, brown… A teddy bear!

My eyes grew large and I sucked in my breath, "Shmee,"

"Hello," he and the woman mimicked.

I stared at him and then to her, "Hello," I greeted back stiffly.

"My name is Devi D." She seemed awkward, but that was to be expected.

I pulled myself up a little further so that I could see her better, "I'm Todd Casil. You work at Dragon Books, right?" I quietly registered the slight pressure around my nose.

"Yeah, I do."

"Why are you here?"

She paused, eyes flickering very gently in thought, before she replied, "I was worried. You're pretty young—"

"Eighteen," I corrected.

"You're pretty young," she repeated, "And all by yourself. I was worried that you'd be lonely."

I sat quietly and watched her. I was not nearly as suspicious of her then I normally would have, but I think that was mostly due to the fact that Shmee was with me and he was doing his job.

"Thank you for the concern, but I'm fine. You don't have to stay here if you don't want to." I told her, feeling guilty that she might be wasting her time worrying about me.

Once I thought about it, as well, it was strange feeling a complete stranger worry about me. I was not used to it. Perhaps I would never be used to it; being cared about, that is.

"I never said I didn't want to be here." She said to me, something akin to a maternal emotion radiating from her.

"Alright," I leaned back down into my bed and rested, Shmee tucked within my arms protectively. I waited for her to mention him, but she never did, which relieved me.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," she started again after a decent half-an-hour of silence, "We've been trying to contact you for a couple of days to tell you that you got the job."

I stared at her for a long moment before I smiled briefly, "That's good,"

"Yeah,"


	8. Dear Abby

**

* * *

**

Chapter 8: Dear Abby

* * *

"Hey!"

I looked up from the book Devi loaned me and to the door. My eyes grew wide.

Pepito marched in and to my bedside. He gave me a look that clearly said, "What happened to you this time and do I really want to know?"

"I hit my head on a railing," I told him with a small smile.

He shook his head, smiling back, "That's surprisingly normal… for once." He mused.

I scoffed playfully, even though I was feelings more shy and guilty than playful, "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew why."

He sobered quickly and gave Devi his "Get out of the room," look.

She tested him with a look of her own before she turned and left the room.

"Tell me what happened." He told me seriously.

I smashed my lips together tightly, "Well, I was ganged up on."

"Who? Where?" He shouted. His disguise faltered for a brief moment.

"My 'house'. Please calm down, Pepito." I said to him and waited for him to settle down, "It was Meatloaf and Mabel."

His eyes narrowed, "Mabel?"

My chest tightened. I had forgotten that Pepito did not know about my new voice. "Yes… She's a new 'acquaintance' of mine."

"What is 'she'?"

"A cat," I hesitated, "drawing."

His lips squeezed together like mine had, "Anything else you haven't told me?"

"No, that's all."

His eyes glowed, "Sure?"

"Positive,"

"Alright…"

"So why aren't you in Hell right now?" The curiosity had gotten the better of me.

"I was told by some demons that you were in the hospital. I told you I'd take time off to visit, so why not now?"

I ignored the fact that demons knew what was happening to me and asked him how his 'training' was going.

He smiled, "Father mostly wants to work on my lying skills. You know me; I can't lie to save my life. Since I'll be taking a job in politics, I need to know how to or else, right?"

I nodded, "I suppose,"

"I'm also being taught by the brightest minds of all of history about military tactics, economics, geometry; the stuff that I need to know."

"… But didn't you learn geometry in tenth grade?"

He waved off my question and continued talking about his time in Hell.

He even admitted to me some things that were probably supposed to stay secret.

He really did need to work on his secret keeping…

* * *

I was lingering out of sleep when the door closed. I peeked out from under my eyelid and found the room to be bright.

A doctor trekked to the bed and started to examine me without a word said. He made my eyes open, checked my head, my nose, and ordered me to say certain things.

At the end of the quick exam, he told me that I was ready to go home and the bill would be postponed due to calculation errors.

I found it unbelievably lucky that such a thing would happen. That meant I would not have to pay them right away and they would not have to find out that I was technically homeless.

I would have to find an apartment as soon as possible.

The doctor left but the door still lingered open.

Shmee told me to stay quiet and not to question the person at the door.

Devi stepped in after a moment of hesitation and sat down next to my bed. "So, you're going home," she said after a pause for thought.

"I am."

"You… Have nowhere to go, do you?"

I stared at her, scanning her face for a sign, "How did you know?"

"You're father answered the phone after our third try and said you didn't live there anymore."

"Oh," I slowly curled a hand around Shmee's paw.

He whispered for me to calm down and listen.

"My landlord told me that there's an open room and I thought that you might want to take it. It's kind of ratty there, but the rent is low,"

I paused and thought, "… Sure."

* * *

It was just as Devi described it; cold and infested with bugs.

It was not much different from where I had run from…

Well, at least it was not damp…

I stepped around carefully, taking in the little room with sharp eyes. I found myself growing slightly more unpleased as I looked at the room that I would live in from then on. I took a moment to look around the one-room apartment over again. I looked at the little stove in the corner and wondered if it gave enough heat off to keep me warm at night.

I did not have anything with me, and that made me pretty sad. I could not risk going back to that house, but the urge to change out of my bloodied clothes was overwhelming. All I really wanted then was to have a shower and clean the sweat off of me.

I did not want to think about my bed arrangements.

I stepped to the door where the landlord stood.

"Is it a deal?" She asked.

"Yeah," I told her and tried to smile. It was better than any other options I had at that moment.

"Alright; rent's due for you in thirty days."

I nodded and she closed the door on me. I stepped over to the little bathroom that was connected to the little room and pulled myself up to the shower.

The water came out in sub-zero temperatures and it did not heat up very much afterwards.

I would deal.

* * *

I sat on the floor, clean but still trapped within my dirty clothing, and I looked at Shmee with a sort of gloom.

I had not expected my life to be so dreary on my own. Perhaps the whole depression I felt lingering to me was my luck's way of saying it was back?

While I did not believe that it was gone to begin with, it certainly had treated me better those past days than it had before. Maybe it was trying to make up for the lost time?

"Something wrong, Todd?" He asked.

I shifted my eyes to his face, "Just thinking about my luck."

He kept silent, waiting for me to add on I presumed.

"It seems to be building up again,"

"I can sense it as well,"

I pressed my lips together, "My life is spiraling out of control… isn't it?"

"Of course it isn't!" He jumped to his feet and paced a little. "You just need to stay optimistic and everything will be better! You're away from that house and away from those people. Your life is going to change for the better, but you have to put through with 'its' last attack."

"'It'?" I asked quietly and watched him pause in mid-step.

"The sickness," he explained simply, "The thing that made your neighbor insane and gave you such bad luck."

"Does that mean I'm going crazy?"

"No. You're away from it now. It won't have an effect on you anymore."

"I hope,"

"I do as well,"

Leaning back against the floor, I wondered if what Shmee told me was true. If it were correct, that would link me with my neighbor into a group, and I was sure that Shmee would never do that unless it were true.

What got at me that most was his uncertainty of the whole thing. Did he question my 'recovery'?"

Could it even be considered a recovery?

I sat back up and curled my toes against the floor. I looked up at the ceiling and let a low breath out. "Why must life be so complicated sometimes?" I asked gloomily.

"I don't know, Todd."

"What is the meaning? Why am I here? What do I need to do?"

He did not reply.

"What is it that I _can_ do? I thought I had the power of words behind me, but I don't even have that anymore. I can't do much of anything, right now…"

"Why don't you just write, then?"

I looked at him for a long moment before I shut my eyes tightly for a long time, "If it were that simple, I would have done it long ago."

"It's all in your head, Todd. All you have to do is sit and write; that's all. Sit and write. Don't worry about the content until you're finished."

"But I don't do things that way, Shmee. I can't just sit and write on a whim. I need to have everything planned and ready before I write."

"… Perhaps that is why you have writer's bock right now?"

I was silenced.

"Like what Ben Joseph Akiba has said, "The paper burns, but the words fly away." Shmee told me.

I wondered over the quote for a moment before I asked for the meaning.

"The content doesn't matter. If the meaning is strong enough, the writing won't matter."

"But doesn't the quote mean that even if the text is lost, the meaning won't?"

"That's just how I interpret it."

I stewed for a long moment, thinking of things that have meaning and of things that do not. And at the end of that period of thinking, I came down to a fact that I could not ignore anymore.

"I really am crazy… aren't I?"

"What? No!" Shmee yelled at me.

"I really am…"

"You _are_ not!"

My eyes shifted from him to the door… the open door… where a very quiet Devi stood.

Shmee turned around and stared at her as well.

"It's… moving," She said in a low voice. It was astonished or perhaps perturbed.

I looked back at my bear and then at her again.

"Did it just talk?" She asked and a horror struck her like a realization. "Oh, oh god!" She jumped to the door.

I stood up, "Wait, Devi!" I hurried after her.

She dashed down the hall, long legs taking her far and faster, and said, "Get away from me! I can't believe I've been dealt another insane man!"

"Please, wait and let me explain!" I cried after her, heart pounding drums in my ears.

She stopped close to the stairwell and started at me with an even wilder look, "Explain? _Explain_?" She screamed.

I stopped as well, "Yes; please."

Her lips tightened and I noticed that Shmee had joined my side.

She stared at me incredulously, "Go ahead, then,"

I stepped forward and she stepped back to the wall. I stopped and kept my distance. "Um—"

"The house where we lived was stationed next-door to one that… gave off monstrous energy."

I looked down at him and wondered what he was getting to.

His speaking certainly did not help her calm down. It, in fact, made her even more paranoid.

"Oh, and that's supposed to make me feel better? That you're sick?" She screamed.

I wondered why no one in the rooms near us had come out and inspected the noise yet.

"Oh," Shmee told her with one of his crazed grins, "But you should care that he's sick, since you are as well."

I understood now.

Devi kept quiet for a long moment before she uttered a, "That's not true,"

"How can you hear him?"

Both set of eyes turned to me.

"Lovely point, Todd." He was pleased that I understood the point he was getting to, it seemed.

That made me feel happy... for a reason in which I did not quite understand.

She stood, close-lipped, and watched me and my bear in silence. At a loss for words, she softly gripped her head and let out a low breath.

"I don't know," she finally said, "I just can. I did when I started dating… _Him_…" She confessed.

"Who is 'he'?" Shmee asked her with a sharper grin.

"You wouldn't know him,"

I watched them both with large eyes. It all seemed so familiar to me, like I knew who it was Devi was talking about…

The thought struck me at last while Devi inched towards the stairs.

"My crazy neighbor?" I asked with my eyes shaped like fine china.

She looked back at me with mimicking eyes, "What?"

I struggled with the name of my old neighbor, it eluding me greatly. "I can't remember his name. He left to go on 'vacation' ten years ago… It started with an 'N'… I think." I told her, hoping that she could fill in my gaps.

"Was his name Nny?"

My world spun and I could feel myself become light-headed. A whirlwind of memories filled me, all clouded and stained, but all filled me with unadulterated fear.

Blood and screams; so much blood and so many screams late at night and early in the morning.

"Yes," my vision blanked.

* * *

My body arched and burned. My eyes refused to open and perhaps I should not have tried to open them.

Would Devi be there, struggling with a decision whether to help me or not? Or would she be long gone; running while she had the chance?

Yellow light filtered into my eyes as I opened them. Instead of the stained ceiling of the apartment hallway, I saw the rotting wood of the roof of the house I had run from.

"Todd?" The voice struggled.

I sat up slowly, body agonizing and begging me to lie back down. I looked at Shmee and blinked several times. I shifted my hazed gaze from him to the beaten house in front of me.

Horror spilled into my stomach and I gagged on my own spit. "Where am I?" I shouted.

"Todd, you've been unconscious for three days now," Shmee told me, stepping up to me and resting a little paw on my knee. "You're at the house…"

My head pounded.


	9. Ivory Gates

**

* * *

**

Chapter 9: Ivory Gates

* * *

"Three days?" I asked with a glaze over my eyes. "Three… days..?"

"Todd," Shmee spoke softly, "Todd, calm down."

I small shiver ran over me.

The light from the streetlamps glittered on my eyes. Sweat gathered on my temples and hairline and I could feel my body heat with the sudden fear that was instilled in me.

"How am I still alive?" I asked, unmoving.

He curled into my lap, acting like a small dog.

If I were not frozen in my stupor, I would have wondered further why he was acting so strangely.

"I don't know, Todd." He murmured submissively, "I don't know."

I held him in my arms and stood up. My legs shook for a moment, the exertion unexpected, and stepped away from the house.

"Where are you going?"

I stopped mid-step and looked around. My eyes could not see anything that was not under the circles of light made by the streetlamps.

"Are you okay?" It asked again, voice sweet syrup.

I could feel that it was coming from behind.

Not from the house though. No, but close.

I turned, eyes wide, and stared at the sagging house. I inspected every corner of it before I looked over at the house next-door.

The candle in the window flickered, "Are you okay?" It asked again.

My mouth opened as I stared. "Shmee, is that candle talking to me?" I whispered to him.

He hung his arms over mine and looked up at me, "I believe it's the fire, not the candle itself."

"Oh… But still, is it talking to me?"

"Yes,"

"Are you okay?" It repeated for a third time. Its voice was as sweet as candy, like a caring mother.

"Um, I'm fine," I lied by reflex, "… who are you?"

The candlelight flickered, "Oh, pardon me. My name is VC. Who might you be?"

"I'm Todd Casil," I told it, hesitating, "Nice to meet you,"

"Nice to meet you as well!" It chimed.

"What are you?" Shmee called from my arms, seeming less harsh then he generally did with new voices.

"Hmm, to be honest, I'm not quite sure myself. I believe I'm more of a light then anything else!" The voice belled.

I stared up at it with a confused look. "How do you not know what you are?"

It laughed, "Oh, and you know what you are?"

"Well, yes, yes I do."

"Hmm? Are you sure? Don't say human, because that's too easy. What are you _really_?"

I was silenced for a minute, thinking through what the voice had told me. I could only come to one conclusion, "I'm myself."

It laughed, "There you go!"

The voice was distinctly feminine; it must have been a girl then.

"Now, sweetie, where are you going?"

Shmee glared at the candle, "Why should it matter to you?"

She laughed again.

It spread a heat through me, somehow; made my heart swell.

"I was just wondering. I don't get to see many things, since my master only lights me at night. As well, I can only see from this angle. My days get boring. Is it so bad that I want to know what you're doing?"

"You're very nosy; too much for your own good."

"Maybe so!"

Shmee paused, eyes scanning her light. It must have been hard for him to tell whether or not she was lying; considering how she had no body language.

"We're leaving this house."

"Why?"

He grunted, annoyed, "Because it brings nothing but trouble."

"Why?"

I stroked him over the head several times and signaled to him that I would talk from then on. "There are… creatures in there that do not have our best in mind."

"Well, that's not good."

I looked at the ground and stepped down the front walk with sluggish steps. "No, it's not."

"Wait, where are you going?" She called after me, sounding afraid.

Shmee whispered for me to keep walking.

I glanced back at the glowing window and felt my heart sink… It was strange, but I felt almost connected with that voice, like it would not bring me bad things in life…

Not like Meatloaf and Mabel…

I stopped walking and turned back around. I looked up at the window and kept my lips closed.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"What?" Shmee snapped, pulling himself out of my arms. He landed on the ground on all fours before he picked himself up and stared at me in awe. "Todd! You can't be serious!" He yelled at me.

"Oh," the voice lowered timidly, "Thank you." It paused before it said "Thank you," once again.

"You're welcome." I said, sucking in a long breath. I exhaled it and turned to the door, "Good-night, VC," I told her and hesitated at the door.

Shmee stepped up next to me, ready to support me.

I gripped the door and turned the handle.

"Good-night to you too, sweetie!"

The door flew open and a high scream berated my ears.

I stopped and almost turned around. But the light reflecting through the newly cleaned window of the neighboring house made my courage grow. I stepped in, breathing held, and crushed myself against my bed.

"Well, look who is back!" Mabel exclaimed from my headboard.

I was too tired too suddenly to respond.

The streetlamps flickered instantaneously.

Shmee let out a yell and told her to leave me alone.

Meatloaf yelled at her to quiet down.

That certainly caught my attention. I sat up slowly, joints creaking, and looked over at the toy on my nightstand.

Had he been there before?

My attention turned swiftly to the light that filtered through the broke windows.

Morning…

"But hadn't it been dark out just a moment ago?" I asked in fear.

"No, you've been asleep for a while now,"

"Wait… but…" I closed my mouth and held my head. I did not even want to try and figure out how that had happened and what was going on.

"Why are you so nice to me all of sudden?" Directed to Meatloaf, I whispered it and drew my knees to my chin.

"No reason, Todd. No reason at all."

She hissed at him before she stalked off of my bed and onto the wall across from me.

"Well, I'd assume there would be a reason," I told him with glum rising from my voice like ashes in the wind, my eyes glued to the mattress below me. My head grew painful and I felt the need to relax. "No one does anything without a reason."

"I never claimed that I was a 'someone'," he told me from his stand… pedestal.

"Then what are you?"

"Simply a figment,"

"You're more life-like than an illusion,"

"Your imagination is special,"

I wrapped my arms around my knees and shut my eyes briefly.

Someone screamed silently.

"It's not special, it's just filthy," Mabel snapped, "There's so much garbage in there that creatures like us fall out. We're the excess of the putrid waste that has filled your skull and is now pressing your brain against its case!"

"So you're calling yourself waste?" Shmee said for me.

"Yes, and I will never forgive him for giving me such a horrible life!" Mabel screamed as she paced back and forth on her wall.

The room grew silent and I registered a slight buzz in my ears.

The room became dark and then light again.

"Todd,"

I hated to think it, but with all of them quiet like the way they were, I was starting to get a little unnerved. I felt terrible; up until then I would have given anything for of peace and quiet.

All I felt now was hollowness.

The moment was not peaceful, since there was thick smog of hatred in the air, but it certainly was quiet.

Except for the buzzing.

"Todd," Shmee repeated.

"What?" I asked him sleepily.

"You need to get out of here,"

"Why? Where will I go?"

"Because these _things_ are making you exhausted. You can go to the city and find an apartment."

"But you told me that my life would be better here,"

"No, I didn't,"

I pressed my lips together tightly. I could have sworn Shmee had told me that, "Oh, I'm sorry,"

"Do you see what I mean? You're no better here then you were in house 779!"

"Yes, Todd, you should leave this place," Meatloaf cooed from his stand.

I stared at him for a long moment, "What?"

"Leave this house and go to a better one."

"Why are you saying these things?"

He laughed, "Because I'd like to get out of here as well." There was something malicious behind his words. "Away from her,"

"Then where would I go?" I asked him, considering the deal.

One less voice would be a good enough deal for me. Two would be better, but beggars cannot be choosers.

I would much rather deal with Meatloaf than Mabel.

"Todd, don't listen to him," Shmee warned me, climbing onto my bed and crawling to my head.

"Why?" I asked as I sat up gently. My bones creaked.

"He's lying!"

"No I'm not!"

"_See_!" He screamed, "He's acting differently! He's talking differently!" He added as he pointed to him.

He marched over to the edge of my nightstand and then jumped onto my bed.

I leaned back and watched them carefully, "He… is?" I asked quietly. It seemed familiar, but I could not recall when he did not sound like that.

"Yes," Shmee jumped, "Yes he is!" He yelled. He looked at me with great concern.

"Don't listen to him. He's the one who's lying. Get away from the house, with or without him, and go to the house next to your old one."

Slowly the realization hit me, "Do you mean house number 777?" I yelled. My throat seared.

I may have wanted to get away from that place, but I certainly _would not_ go to my neighbor's house.

"Yes!"

"No!" Shmee and I yelled together.

"You should! It's empty and he's not coming back! You said so yourself when you were moving to this house! What's so wrong with it anyway?" Meatloaf fired at us.

"It's filled with horrible energy!" Shmee shot back.

"Oh and how do you know?"

"Because countless amounts of people have died in there!"

"How do you know that? You've never been in there!"

He glared at Meatloaf, "I don't need to go in there to know what's there."

"Yes, you do." He barked back, "Why not give it a try, Todd? What do you have to lose—?"

"His sanity!" Shmee interjected.

"— it's free and right now you have no money for an apartment! As well, it cannot be worse than this place; the bonus is that _she_ won't be there."

I stood up and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?" My bear yelled after me.

I could hear the patter of his feet against the floorboards, "Thinking… alone,"

The patter stopped.

I exited the house and sat on the cement walkway. Leaning back, I gazed at the bright lights of the house next-door.

A silhouette of a man and a woman embraced at the window.

The candle in the window was snuffed.

"VC?" I called to her.

"Yes?" She replied, honey sweet voice slathering over my skin.

"Where are you?"

"Look straight up,"

I did. I stared at the stars and wondered. "Which one?"

"The brightest you see,"

"There it is," my eyes settled on the strong gleam of Polaris. "VC, do you think I should move to the house down the street?"

"Oh, is there something wrong with this one?"

"Yes,"

"Then is there something wrong with the other one?"

"Yes,"

"So which one is better?"

I thought silently, my eyes never shifting from her shimmering form. "The other, I suppose,"

"Then there is your answer."

I stood up without a sound, "I see. Thank you, VC."


	10. Perhaps Brunet

**

* * *

**

Chapter 10: Perhaps Brunet

* * *

I stepped out of the house with Mabel screaming after me. Shmee was tucked under my shoulder and Meatloaf was in my suitcase.

The air was strong with humidity that always came with the summer.

I was somewhat comforted to know that it had not turned to Fall and that I had not forgotten too much of the time. I walked down the empty street, toward my old home, and kept to the dark.

Large circles of light bounced off the ground and hit the side of my face as I trudged forward.

"Don't do it, Todd," Shmee whispered to me.

"He's right, Shmee. For once, Meatloaf is right. I can't handle Mabel any more and that house cannot be as bad as this one. How do I know if what I saw as a child wasn't a nightmare? It was always night when I saw him… How do I know it wasn't just a dream?"

"Because it wasn't! Despite what you think, Todd, me and you are two separate beings now. I may have been a part of your mind when you were a child, but I've become my own entity now. I know what you have done in your life. I can no longer see your dreams. I know what's real and what isn't."

"Yes, but how do you know what you saw in my dreams _back then_ were real or not? What if we both thought a dream or dreams I had back then were real? What if my insane neighbor isn't even real?" Fear clenched my heart and I started to yell. "How do you know if any of this is real?"

"It _is _real, Todd! It's real and it's happening! Don't lose yourself! Don't go to that house! Don't expose your mind right to the source!" He screamed back with the same intensity as my own.

Another beam of light hit the side of my face.

I stood in front of the home I grew up in and I was not surprised to see that it had not changed. I could not remember how long I had been away, since I no longer knew the date, but I did not believe that it would ever be something different.

It would never change.

"Reconsider this, Todd. Please. Listen to me for once! _Don't go to that house!_" Desperate sounding, Shmee beat lightly against my arms, screaming for me to stop.

I never stopped.

I walked up to the shack and walked in easily.

The room was cold and a sudden spike of frost drove up my spine. The noose that hung in the corner closest to me gave me a bad feeling while the wall to the left gave an even worse feeling.

It was a rust color.

A feeling of foreboding washed over me as I stepped further into the home. I set my suitcase down and turned around carefully, taking all the room in.

It was hard to believe that such an insane man may have once lived there.

"You still have a chance to leave, Todd. It's not a finalized decision yet. Get out while you can. Get out while the house still allows you to." Shmee whispered harshly.

Something rumbling filled my ears and I looked around more; even more careful and calculating this time around.

"You worry too much, Shmee. This house may have had a killer in it, but it's not possessed." I replied and walked towards the only hallway that branched from the front room.

The hallway was dark; the low amount of streetlamp light making it into the room grew even smaller as I walked further down the hall.

My fingers trailed against the bumpy wall, sending fear shivers up and down my form. I had the distinct feeling that the walls were growing closer the further I went and I would not have been surprised it I had to stop because my shoulders would became stuck…

My hand slid over a light switch, making my body jump with surprise. I flipped the switch up and a grainy, yellow light did a sunburst above my head. My vision spun for a split of a second before I focused on the hallway once more.

"Stop, Todd!" Shmee begged, voice cracking slightly as he yelled once more. He flailed a little over my arm, "Please stop, please! Listen to me for once..! _Listen!_"

I continued my trek.

The hallway led me to a lone door; a door that radiated a dark aura.

My mind must have stopped working at that very instant, because I continued on.

The rumble grew louder; shifting more to fuzz that was a lot like white noise.

The room behind the door had its lights on already, flickering and humming.

Another cog of fear assembled into the clock that was my body but I continued forward.

The room was somewhat normal, considering the last occupant. In fact, the only thing that was off was the gun that was supported up on a strange machine… that was connected to the telephone.

There was a vanity mirror against the wall across and to the side from the door and a reflection of two painted doughboys reflected in it.

I looked to my side and jumped with fright at the sight of the two Styrofoam doughboys nailed to the wall with knives.

"Get out of here,"

I barely registered Shmee's words. Instead, I was listening to what I believed was coming from the two figures. Despite the better instincts of my own, I leaned forward; eyes squinted, and kept my ears keen.

A low murmur came from both of the painted creatures but if they were saying anything, it was illegible.

I was comforted only slightly about this.

At least they would not bother me like the others.

I walked over to the mirror and looked at myself for the first time in what seemed to be forever. My hair had grown decently long, much to my surprise. It was down to the nap of my neck and my bangs were long enough to tuck behind my ears. It was shiny with grease. A beard was starting to sprout from my chin and I looked surprisingly old, considering how I was only a young adult.

But a fuzzy chin was the least of my problems at that time…

What was I going to do then?

I was so overwhelmed with Mabel and Meatloaf and VC, I had forgotten about a career motive. I still needed to get one to get an apartment. I needed one to start my life again.

I set Shmee down on the vanity and turned to the opening in the wall that led to the kitchen.

"Todd! _Todd, stop!_"

It appeared to be like any other kitchen. There was a very thick layer of dust all over. In the corner sat a humming refrigerator.

I opened it to find nothing inside it, which made my nerves settle a little.

"Todd," Shmee scuttled to my side and gripped my pant leg.

"Yes?" I asked, looking down at him.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked me, voice hovering with fear.

"Am I acting strange? I don't think there's anything wrong with me," I replied, seeming stiff even to my own ears.

"Yes! Can't you see how much you're changing? Why are you listening so intently to Meatloaf? Why are you ignoring me?" He asked; face giving a look of hurt.

I stared at the burger boy figurine on the counter with a fixated stare before I glanced back at Shmee, "I'm sorry if it seems like I'm ignoring you. It's strange, but I'm really curious to see what's in this house. And for your information, I'm not listening to Meatloaf more than I usually do. He just had a logical idea and I had no other choices! Where would I have gone if I listened to you? I can't get an apartment like you suggested, since I have no money and no job!" I shouted back at him.

"Does it matter where you go? _Does it_? Artists suffer for their art; and yours is writing! I just want what's best for you, Todd! And this place is not even close to the best for you! This house will be the end of you! Get out while you still can. The house is already starting to bond with you! Before you know it, no matter how hard you want to leave you won't be able to!" He fired back, climbing up my pant leg and pulling himself onto the counter.

He motioned at me, venting his frustration.

I leaned over him, my hands clenched angrily onto the edge of the marble counter. My body flashed white hot and my vision blurred. "I don't want to suffer anymore! I don't want my luck to be so bad! I've dealt with enough of this in my life! When will my good life come? When will all of this bad luck end? _When will I be able to live my life in peace?_" I ground my teeth together.

"When will karma finally give me what I _deserve_?" I yelled sharply and turned around. I marched into the main room and towards the stairs.

"Wait, Todd!" Shmee screamed after me. He jumped off of the counter and ran after me.

I flipped on the lights and stepped down one step. I slammed the door shut behind me.

I heard Shmee claw against the door, begging me to open it.

I descended down, faster and harsh. By the sixth floor, my mind had finally cleared from my anger and I started to feel horrible.

What had I done?

I stepped further down, making it to small 'resting' areas that contained freakish graffiti that both frightened me and made my curiosity grow.

I had screamed at my best friend and I had shut him out…

I was all alone…

I was such a bad friend.

The lights for each level were on for an unknown reason and as I made my way further, I found that the lights became more faltering and more surreal.

I entered a long hallway that extended from a small door. There were so many doors branching from the hall, I was not sure where to go first. I started with the closest door to my left.

The room was dark and I could feel no light switch.

My eyes grew wide as my feet stepped further in. My temples pounded and a spike of pain struck through my head.

My vision disappeared...


	11. The Paper Burns

**

* * *

**

Chapter 11: The Paper Burns

* * *

My eyes fluttered open and I found myself sitting in dimly lit room. I stood up slowly, my body creaking with the effort, and felt something slither on the top of my head. I jumped with surprise and groped at the object.

I found it to be a pull cord. I pulled it down and a circle of light haloed over me. My eyes narrowed at the flood of light and my chest clenched.

The wall opposite from me was covered in malicious spikes that were painted a dark brown.

Blood…

Standing still for a long moment, my breath held, I felt fear strike through me. A flash of the possible victims of the wall filled my vision and my heart rate started to pick up speed. I turned to the door and dashed out, my heart pounding madly. I hurried up the flights of stairs, going higher and higher.

I found myself never coming closer to the top. My heartbeat grew even more rapid. I went further, faster, fearful, and frantic. My breath puffed out harder and my chest seared.

A door came into view and I nearly cried with joy.

Perhaps Shmee was right? I did need to get out of there. It was dangerous.

What if ghosts lingered there?

I flung the door open and threw myself into the sitting room. The door closed heavily behind me.

I leaned against the wall, panting heavily, and pulled myself into the kitchen. I leaned over the sink and screamed at the pile of bones that was in it. I jumped back and pressed up against the island. My thumbs and toes pulsated.

"What's the matter, Todd? Afraid?" A creaking voice with an undertone of chattering vocalized.

Sweat dripped down my chin and my body flushed. "W-What?" I huffed.

"Fear is a good thing, Todd. It's one of the best instincts a human can have. It'll keep you alive much longer than one who is fearless."

I looked around in fright, "Where are you?"

"Come to the sink,"

I crept over to the sink and looked down with dread.

The small rodent's skeleton sneered at me, looking up from the metal pit. "My name's Cancer."

I stepped back, "You—you just talked… How is that possible..?"

There came mad clanking inside the metallic sink and all of a sudden, a claw-like foot clenched the edge of the sink. The skeleton pulled itself up and onto the ledge, sneering at me. "I did talk. Does that scare you?"

I stared at him, the walls shifting slightly.

Long, sinister shadows crept across the wall and twirled against the pealing wallpaper. Large, red eyes stared at me from those wall shadows and sharp-toothed smiles accompanied them.

"Does that scare you?"

I quickly hurried past the island and called for Shmee. I needed his help so badly right then; he could help and then I could apologize to him. I did an almost frantic search for him.

My mind was shifting from one emotion to the next so quickly my body could not keep up.

"Shmee, where are you."

"Not here," Meatloaf said from the doorway.

I looked at him with wide eyes. How had he gotten out?

"What do you mean?" I asked with my breath held.

"He means that you'll never see that fucker ever again,"

My skin prickled and I spun around.

The kitchen was dark with the shadows and something slid across the floor with the sound of paper rubbing against paper.

"Mabel," I muttered with a feathery voice.

"Did you really think I'd be abandoned that easily? Think again!" She screamed.

"What have you done to Shmee?" I shouted at them.

The squirrel skeleton slinked its way into the sitting room. His teeth chattered and the almost impossible smile never faded.

"I got rid of him…" Meatloaf told me with a smiled that mimicked Cancer's.

"What did you do to him?" I screamed.

"Todd,"

My face drooped and I looked around slowly, "Shmee..? Wh-Where are you?"

"They destroyed my body and now I'm in your mind. Somehow... they've chained me… I can't talk for too long, the _other things_ are growing restless in here… Todd, please, get out. Hurry, before it's too late." He warned.

"Shmee, what do you mean by 'other things'? Wait—please, don't go. _Please._ Shmee, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I didn't listen to you! Please forgive me! I'll leave, I really will."

A rumble filled my ears.

"He's gone," Meatloaf said happily.

I stared at him with large eyes, my heart thumping like a rabbit's.

"Shmee, Shmee, can you talk? I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I felt tears slid down my cheeks. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I repeated. I stepped heavily out of the room and towards the door.

I had to get out. I had to.

Shmee was right, I was in trouble. That house was bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

I gripped the handle and turned roughly. I tried to open it, but I would not budge. I screamed and tugged harder and harder, trying to get out.

I could not!

I was trapped!

The door handle vanished under my hands.

I started to scream and I pounded against the door, hoping, praying that it was weak enough to by broken down. "Let me out!" I yelled, voice snapping before I could say the 't'.

"Give up," Mabel hissed from the wall, "You can't get out now! You and the house have bonded! It has made its way deep into your mind and it had made its nest! You can't get o—


	12. Purns Bhe Taper

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* * *

**

Chapter 12: Purns Bhe Taper

* * *

He felt his body shake. Terrible tremors racked through his nonexistent frame. Tears rimmed his eyes and they soon spilled over. He landed roughly on his side, arms wrapped around his torso; shaking still.

"What _is_ the point?" He asked the stuffy air.

The filtered yellow lights above him flickered, sending out a fuzzy noise that was generally acquainted with white noise, only in a higher pitch.

Bloody teeth littered the floor around him; he did not know where they had come from.

He could not even remember how he had gotten in that yellowed room anymore.

The floor groaned as a creature walked across them, scuffing the wood with sharp metal toes.

"There is no point," chimed three separate entities, voices synchronized into a drone that made his eyes pop.

A clanking of unusual materials came from his southwest.

A slither of paper against paper came to his feet.

"There is no point." They all concluded.

Smog filled his lungs and he carefully picked himself up. His face felt frozen, frozen in the position of a man being burned alive.

He was cold.

He pulled a notebook from under the open one and pulled it open to the front.

"Chapter One: Purple Flowers," he muttered in a low voice.

He read.

He read until the sun set and then rose and then set again.

The monsters that infested his house continuously told him to stop, to cease the stupidity of his current actions and to simply go to rest already.

He could not, though. He had to continue. He had to find the meaning of why he was doing that. He had to find out why he was writing it.

"Chapter Eight: Dear Abby,"

He continued to read. His sluggish reading took him while, eyes moving slow due to great fatigue. His body ran slow, eyes clicking each word at a time like a typewriter. Slowly, carefully, he trudged on.

"The paper burns, but the words fly away..?" He asked in a quiet voice.

The voices, still telling him to stop, to cease the stupidity, to go to rest, stopped their chattering and let the room shift into an eerie silence. They wanted to know what he was muttering about.

"The paper burns, but the words fly away…" He could feel the realization on the tip of his tongue.

Then it came to him.

Tears gushed forth his eyelids; large like cobbles, they streaked down his hollow face. His body was wracked with sobs, jolting him from side to side.

He could remember who had told him that quote so long ago.

Shmee.

"The paper burns, but the words fly away!" He gasped, breath huffing with uncontrolled agony. He let out more wet, blood curdling sobs, fermenting into a rich scream.

"Shmee!" He screamed, dragging his raw fingers across the floor until splinters dug deep under his nails. "_Shmee_!"

With one last, final scream, his body froze as if someone had pulled the plug. His eyes glossed over and his jaw set stiffly.

He leaned over and pulled his pencil off the ground. He slicked his pencil with his bloody fingers and dragged it across the page.

'For Shmee,' he wrote, long streaks of blood sliding across the paper.

'The paper burns, but the words fly away.

'The paper burns, but the words fly away.

'The paper burns, but the words fly away.'


	13. Sharper But Pen

* * *

**Chapter 13: Sharper But Pen**

* * *

For Shmee.

The paper burns, but the words fly away.

The paper burns, but the words fly away.

The paper burns, but the words fly away.

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* * *

His breathe was jagged and he would feel the weakness loom above him. He felt the need to laugh at the whole situation, but he did not have the energy to. He did not even have enough to keep him slumped over the notebook that was opened wide on the floor.

The pencil had long fallen from his hand and rolled a good yard away.

His back landed onto the old floorboards, forcing a loud wheeze from them. His world was spinning, much like it had always done before, and perhaps it would have felt normal if it were not for the realization that _it_ had finally come.

_It_ was finally there.

Everything in his being hollowed and he desperately tried to pick himself up. With depleted fuel, all he could do was sit quietly and scream over the noise that buzzed in his head. He needed to get up and finish his work. He needed to end his life with some sort of accomplishment. He needed to tell people of his life!

Weakness prevailed over him and pulled the strings that were attached to his limbs. It forced his eyes closed and forced the creatures in his mind to silence. It forced him to become so weak that he could not even think without feeling tired.

And then everything was ripped from him in a swift and painless rip.

The noise, the light, the pain, the chaos, the smell, the touch; all were taken from him.

In the quiet, he begged for his friend. Hoping now they could hear each other.

It was quiet and he was soon muted.


	14. Epilogue: The System

**

* * *

**

Epilogue: The System

* * *

"Hello Senor Diablo,"

"Hello Todd,"

"… am I in your basement?"

"You are."

"Oh… where's Pepito?"

"With his mother,"

"…"

"…"

"Why am I in Hell?"

"You died."

"… what have I done to be placed in Hell?"

"You're simply here for a moment while The System figures out what to do with you."

"What is The System?"

"Your guess would be as true as my own,"

"…"

"…"

"So, what does this, uh, System have to do with me?"

"You're a waste-lock,"

"A what?"

"Waste-lock,"

"I don't follow,"

"There is waste in the world. Without someone to pick it up, the world would overflow with bad. And that's just a pain to deal with. So The System created a way to clean up without interruption. It designated key points in space to collect waste. It's more like a figurative box than anything else. To keep the 'waste' inside, the 'box' needs a lock. That's you, Todd."

"… what's the key?"

"Death. But before the box is full, the lock must be kept alive. When the box does fill all the way, the lock is allowed to die and the waste is eradicated from every plane of existence."

"Where do I go now?"

"The System is not as cruel as it seems. The last lock of that house was allowed to continue his life as a normal person… well, as normal as he could possibly be. I can't say for sure, Todd, but you might get that as well."

"…"

"Is there something troubling you?"

"No, no, I'm just thinking. It's all so very quiet now. I don't hear anything inside me anymore."

"The figments have been erased."

"…"

"…"

"… even Shmee?"

"Yes,"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"It seems The System has decided where you'll go. Good-bye Todd."


End file.
